《A virtual reality game according to a martial artist otaku》


 Prologue

    John Doe was excited. The reason for his excitement was an announcement about the latest virtual reality game called Endless online. The reason why it caught his attention was the fact that it had 99% realism. The one percent that wasn''t real was because of the pain nullification and the introduction of magic. That''s right, it was a medieval fantasy game, where dungeons, dragons and magic were prevalent everywhere. The beta testers had described the game as ''revolutionary'' and ''fuckin epic.''


    It was the talk of the classroom and with his friends blabbering non-stop about it, there was no way in hell he didn''t know about the game. It was one such school day when it actually caught his attention.


    "Did you see the latest news about infinity online? There will be hidden classes AND you can create your own skills!" One of his friends told John and he immediately perked up.


    ''Now that actually sounds interesting.''


    "I might actually get it." His friends suddenly looked at him in shock. "What?"


    "Well its just that you are so engrossed in your martial arts and anime that we weren''t expecting you to actually buy it..." One of his friends, Hajime, replied. "Oh come on I am not THAT engrossed in them."


    "Dude one of the prettiest girls in the ENTIRE YEAR invited you to Netflix and chill but you declined because you had  some goddamn judo training..." Hajime brought up an example with a jealous face. That girl''s name was Lucy Nakiri and many regarded her as a Goddess in the school. She and John had been friends since secondary school had started and it was rumoured that she had some feelings for him. Although John liked to browse the internet, he only used it to watch anime but he didn''t browse that part of the web so he was pretty inexperienced in those forms of human emotion.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it."But there was an important competition coming up and I didn''t want to watch a film at the time she called me for ''Netflix and chill." All those present facepalmed... "Man you are so dense." Hajime replied after some time... John was still looking confused by the time the bell rang.


    Once he got home, John was thinking about how much the game would cost him and he looked up how much the gaming helmet for infinity online cost and thankfully it was only ¡ê299, much less than other consoles. After weeks of begging his parents, they finally let him buy it in return that his grades do not drop. ''Just in time,'' he thought to himself, ''the release date is tomorrow.''


    The next day, the short awaited package arrived. Scrambling to open it, John was presented with a helmet akin to fighter pilot helmet, with a giant visor covering most of his face. After reading the instructions on how to hook the thing up, John proceeded to lie down on his bed, and entered the game.

 Chapter 1

    A bright light blinded him. Squinting his eyes, he saw a person standing in front of him. "Hello and welcome to Endless online." the person said "I am in charge of character creation."


    "First off, what is your character going to be called?" John thought about it and replied "I want to be called Kira." Another bright light and standing in front of him were three humans. Correction, one human, anelf and a beastman. "What race do you want to play as?" the person-in-charge-of-character-creation asked. "Human." came the immediate reply .


    John, no, Kira had read many light novels and knew that humans were the most versatile race. Elves were better in magic and archery and they also had high intelligence. Beastmen were physically stronger and thus more effective in close combat but had less magic and less intelligence. Kira wanted to be a magic swordsman; a mixture of both wizard and warrior. A close combat mage, if you will.


    "I have a couple more questions left. Would you like to customize your character?"


    "No keep me as I am." Kira had a rather good build; tall with robust muscles due to his martial arts. Brown hair with piercing eyes and an apparently handsome face. He thinks apparently because his mother says so but aren''t all mothers supposed to say that? Anyway, Kira liked his appearance but he did understand why some people changed their appearance.


    "Where would you like to start?"


    "I don''t know any names but please place me in a city where there are few players as possible but with moderate enemies a level one can beat." He had no wish to spawn in a town where level 50 undead roamed.


    "Wish granted. Have a nice playing experience, Kira."


    Another bright light and suddenly he found himself falling from the sky. Righting himself, he felt that he had no parachute. The ground was getting suspiciously closer. Closer. Closer and closer until WHAM he landed on his feet. Strangely there was no fall damage and landing only felt as though he had just gotten out of bed. "HELL YEAH!" When the adrenaline rush finally caught up, he wanted to go again. That''s the thing about adrenaline. It activates during dangerous situations and during this time you wish you were somewhere else but when you''re not in danger, you want to go again.


    Once he had finally calmed down, Kira did the first thing anyone would do: "Status." A table full of numbers and characters appeared.


    Name: Kira                                                                  Race:Human


    Level: 1                                                                         Title: N/A


    Health: 100                                                                 Mana capacity


    Strength: 15                                                                Vitality:15


    Agility: 13                                                                     Stamina:20


    Wisdom: 20                                                                Intelligence: 20


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.Passive skills: N/A                                                   Active skills: N/A


    Items: Equipped: Beginner''s trousers, beginner''s shirt, beginner''s shoes, beginner''s dagger.


    Inventory: Bread x5


    There was everything you would expect from a level one player. Kira then decided that it was not the best time to be dawdling around. Walking off, he saw NPCs looking at him, whispering. ''Please don''t let it be like that novel where the NPCs hated players. I don''t want to be the killer of a city.'' Walking up to one of the guards, Kira asked if there was a training ground nearby. "Yeah if you go in that direction, you would find it quickly enough."


    ''Damn they sound like real people.'' Thanking the guard, Kira jogged in the direction he was pointed at. Whilst he was jogging, he saw the streets bustling with life; merchants that were selling goods were competing with each other, women and children were shouting and men were getting dunk. ''Quite the fun place.''


    Once he got to the place where it said in massive letters "ADVENTURER CENTER" he found himself entering quite quickly. Walking up to the counter, he saw the receptionist. She was a pretty girl with unusually white hair with a short ponytail that stopped her hair from falling over her face. "Hello, are you a newcomer?" She asked him. "Yes I would like to register to the training course." Nodding, the girl shouted a another white haired girl, presumably her sister. "Lis, we go another one who wants to do the training."


    "Ok. Oi, adventurer-wannabe, follow me." Following after Lis, he was led to a wide area where a large man was shouting at some trainees.


    "COME ON YOU PUSSIES! YOU CALL YOURSELF MEN?!" Lis calmly walked up and and said to the still angry man "Hey brother you got another one."


    Immediately calming down, the brother looked at Kira. "Alrighty. Are you sure? If you refuse, I won''t say anything, but if you sign up and decide to quit, I will personally make your life hell."


    "Yes I am pretty sure." Kira replied with confidence. "Alright. By the end of this training you WILL be a man! NOW ALL OF YOU HIT THESE DUMMIES 100 TIMES!" Groaning the trainees obliged. Kira, however, was used to these types of training and immediately took a standard stance with the sword pointing diagonally. Lifting the sword, he put all of his power into the hit. THWACK.THWACK.THWACK. The sound of a wooden sword resounded across the training hall in quick succession.


    After around 5 minutes, Kira finally stopped. *Ding* a notification sounded. He had apparently gained 10 strength by swinging the sword 100 times!


    The other trainees looked at him in awe. Some of them were still in their 30s. Apparently impressed, the trainer walked up. "Well done. I never expected you were already trained in the art of the sword. As a result, your sword mastery goes up to beginner level 9. You skipped 9 levels and you only need one more level to go to intermediate. It only gets harder from here on out." Looking at his skills and notification, what the white haired trainer said to him was true: his sword mastery was indeed level 9! "Alright you may have impressed them but you haven''t impressed me; you''re sweating. A true expert would be sweaty, they wouldn''t have even broken a sweat! RUN 100 LAPS AND WORK ON YOUR STAMINA! THE REST OF YOU, GET BACK TO WORK YOU DIMWITS!"

 Chapter 2

    After running 100 laps, doing some meditation and eating in-game, Kira logged off and ate in real life and got ready for school. He had successfully increased his stamina by another 20 points.


    The next day, during break and lunch, Hajime excitedly talked about his experience in the game. "OH MY GOD IT IS SOOOO EPIC!" He talked to no-one in particular "The game made me kill 10 rabbits and 2 wolves for a quest. I''m already level 3! What about you John?"


    "Me? Well I am still level one but I am currently in an adventurer training center in my town, upgrading my skills." The day went on as usual, with Hajime still talking on about he was a level three with 13 kills under his belt.


    Logging back on, Kira was greeted by the cold floor of the training hall. Getting up, and going for a jog seemed like a logical solution to the martial artist- he wanted to improve his stamina. After some time the trainer appeared and grunted in approval. After waking the other trainees in a not so gentle way, he approached Kira. "Hey Kira, what are you doing here?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Well its just that you are obviously skilled, and I wouldn''t be surprised if you have already killed someone, but this place has no meaning towards someone like you. You already know how to swing a sword correctly, the meditation that you were doing earlier to increase your stamina regeneration, these all show that training in not for you."


    "You are correct, but I read in novels that you can increase your stats in a training center."


    Smiling, the trainer replied "Don''t you think you can''t do that outside? The point of a training center is to teach a person how to fight; you already know how. You are already a man. Therefore, I honourably discharge you from the training center. You have completed the training and therefore receive a sword of your choosing and a prize on my attitude towards you."


    Beckoning the shocked Kira to follow him, the trainer opened a door to the armoury. "Choose one."


    Inside the room there were swords ranging from claymores, short swords and long swords. ''These aren''t for me.'' Looking around, Kira spied a traditional Japanese sword: A katana with a orange edge. Grabbing it as though it was his precious, Kira walked out.


    "You have a good eye Kira. That sword is a good weapon and will not break easily. Anyway. Now onto my prize. Usually a person will receive one prize; you are the same but different; you get a choice." As soon as he said that, three books appeared.


    Choice number one: Your weapon can extend up to four meters, impaling anything in it''s wake.


    Choice number two: Your weapon does 200% damage with increased chance of a critical hit .


    Choice number three: This is a passive skill. Your weapon becomes a growing type weapon, growing with the user;  the stronger the user, the stronger the sword.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ''Well I don''t posses word magic but the extend ability seems pretty attractive however the growing weapon just takes the cake. Reminds me of a certain Dao, where it grows with the prince.''


    "Choice number three please." Kira thought it was the best choice; he was familiar with a katana and this one felt as though it had more secrets. Throwing the book towards him, the trainer told him to follow. As soon as Kira touched the book, it  opened and disappeared. *Ding* a notification sounded.


    Congratulations: You have learnt a new skill.


    Skill name:Growing weapon


    Skill type: Passive


    Skill description: Your weapon becomes a growing type weapon, growing with the user;  the stronger the user, the stronger the sword.


    "Nice." Kira said to himself. Following the trainer, he was led to the same room he was when he entered; the reception. "Hey sister, give this one the standard after an amateur becomes a man."


    "Alrighty. Here you go." The girl in the red dress gave Kira a cloak and a badge. *Ding*


    Congratulations: You received adventurer''s cloak and badge, which show that have completed the training! You receive 50 experience!


    *Ding*


    For being the first adventurer to complete the training, you are awarded 100 experience and 50 copper coins!


    ''Even more nice!'' He thought to himself.


    *Ding* ''What!? Another one?''


    Congratulations on leveling up! You are now level two. Please distribute you stat points. Stat points available:5


    "Please distribute two stat points into strength, one into agility, one into mana and one into health."


    ''This is the best stat points for a magic swordsman.'' Kira thought to himself. He glanced at the time. "Ah shit." He swore. "I am late for tai-jitsu!" Quickly logging off, John rejoined reality.

 Chapter 3

    Donning the brown cloak, Kira walked outside the adventurer''s guild. Then he did what the standard light novel character would do: He visited the local library. He had read many a light novel where the protagonist receives extremely useful information about the world and one or two where the guy actually became a historian.


    Entering the library, Kira saw lots and lots of books. They were scattered around all over the place. Kira was in shock; this wasn''t a library, this was a mess! "Hello young adventurer. What brings you to my library?" An aged voice asked him. Looking at the voice, Kira saw that an old librarian sat surrounded by dusty books. His white hair trailed over many of them, or were they cobwebs? They were so thin and white it was hard to distinguish between the two. He wore an eye patch and one of his arms was made out of metal.


    "It has been a long time since someone of your age showed an interest in books. Most of them are busy with swinging swords or casting basic magic." The old man looked Kira up and down. "You''re different. You have the air of a swordsman but your eyes show intelligence higher than the average brute." Kira was startled by the old man''s analysis of him; who was this old man to see through him in one look? "I wish to learn the history of the world and about magic." Kira told the guy with a straight face.


    Suddenly, the guy laughed.


    "AHAHAHAHAHA!" Startled, Kira took a step back; he almost regretted stepping into the library. After about a minute, the old librarian stopped laughing. "Sorry it''s just that it has been a long time since someone said those exact same words. They ended up killing a rogue dragon by himself. You remind me of him."


    *Ding* +1 intimacy with the old librarian. Another annoying notification. Surprised at the rude interruption of the notification, Kira made a mental note to find a way to turn them off later. The old man then asked him a question: "Do you want to be like him youngster?" Kira thought and replied "No. I want to be stronger than him."


    Nodding, the old man then proceeded to tell Kira about himself. "I was once like you; young and full of energy. I myself was only level one when my master found me. After he and I started training together, I realised that wherever you go, there is always something interesting. That little piece of rock could be a relic from an ancient civilization that almost perished by the hand of a sealed necromancer. That sword that you hold could be one day a national treasure. That bird that you bought could transform from a tiny chick to a little girl or a giant bird great for pulling wagons. I have one lesson to teach you. Learn and explore. That is the way of a true man! I once trained a baby dragon to sit on my head. I dare you to do the same."


    After hearing the hairy, scary, librarian''s monologue, Kira was shocked. The world truly was a vast place and he had much to learn. "I wish to gain knowledge first. I do not want to die because I ate some poisonous berries or I got lost in labyrinth. Please allow me to read from your library."


    "Good answer" the old man replied."My name Hades. I have explored the world trying to get to the source of true magic but you are still too inexperienced for that magic. Instead you are only allowed to read... These books." In a flash, Hades disappeared and reappeared holding a crate full of dusty books. "Sorry if they''re a bit old." Dropping the crate down, Hades went and switched the light on. Only then did Kira see just how large the small library actually was. "Its bigger on the inside..." He muttered. "Thank you for your patronage Master Hades!" He then dived straight into the book.


    Five hours later...


    *Ding* Warning your sanitary levels have dropped below 2 points. Your stats have become critical and will only improve once you eat!


    ''Oh shit!'' Kira realised he didn''t look at the time, his sanitary level nor his notifications! Quickly looking into his inventory, he realised he had no bread left! ''Ah fuck this.'' Kira checked his notifications. Turns out he had gained a new skill: Speed reading. It was intermediate level 2. ''I guess that five hours spent here was not that wasteful.'' He had had coughing fits everytime he opened a book, they were that dusty. He reflected on what he learned:


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.This world is called Sera. There are multiple races living in the massive continent called Ede but the Ede is divided into several countries. He was currently in in the Fiore. This is where humans, elves, pixies, dwarfs and beast people lived. The people here lived in towns, villages and cities. It was ruled by a council of seven, which were sometimes called the Trinity seven.  However, in this world there is no technology so it resembles the medieval period, albeit with more magic. Apparently only ten percent of the (NPC) population could use magic.


    Most of the world is covered in forests. Many types of wild beast live in them that are aggressive towards people. That is why people learn to fight and use magic. Killing a monster grants a person some exp, so the higher level the monster, the larger amount of exp you get. There were some people who used think that demi-humans as inferior, until a dragon princess, born from light and darkness, decreed that all races were equal.


    Nowadays, there was some integration but many of each respective race kept to their own countries. The dragons, however,  are not sociable and live all around the world. There were cases, however, where a dragon bonded with a person and followed them until death. The most notable was a half human half griffon demi-human that raised a dragon.


    According to one thick book, mana was part of the body, and every living being had different amounts of them. Many doctors and wizards tried to find the organ that contained mana or ''dantan,'' as they called it, but to no avail. Magic could do anyhting, from destroying countries to resurrecting people; it was amazing. When a person runs out of mana, they start to lose health, with some mages dying because they over-estimated themselves. Mana was also described as the life-force of all life, flowing throught the body. Every part of the body that mana flowing through it magic could be cast from it.


    *Ding* Your sanitary levels are critical; eat in 50 seconds or die!


    Ignoring the message, Kira looked around. He still had a thin book left to read. Gambling on he intermediate speed reading, he started reading.


    Ten more pages...


    Nine pages...


    Eight more pages...


    Seven more pages...


    Six more pages...


    Five more pages...


    Four more pages...


    Three more pages...


    Two more pages...


    One more page


    SLAM. Kira dropped the book. *Ding* His body slumped over. It then disappeared in a flash of particles and light. Kira read on the screen:


    You have died!!! You cannot log in for 24 hours.

 Chapter 4

    Logging off, John was happy despite the fact that he had died from starvation. For others, it would be humiliating as it was ranked #3 on worst ways to die after being eaten by a living weapon in the form of a giant dog and having your stomach ripped apart by a black and blue dragon... John wasn''t worried;  all he cared about was the fact that he had finished all of the books in a single gaming session. Getting dressed, he got up to school.


    Once again, Hajime was droning on about Endless online. "I unfortunately failed this test to become a sage, but then some girl paralyzed me by poking me and finishing me off with some kind of hand blast! It totally sucked! Although she had beautiful purple eyes, the veins on her face kinda ruined it..."


    "Dude can you just stop being the stereotypical retard that tries to get girls'' numbers online?" John retorted. Many of his classmates laughed at his remark and Hajime quieted down. "Don''t be such a kill-joy. I didn''t ask for her number." John raised an eyebrow; he knew his friend. Hajime tried and tried but he always sucked at romance. Rumour was that he once tried to go on a date, but almost died! Although for a short bit, he had a  harem but they had eighth-grader syndrome: One believed she was a vampire princess, another always wore rabbit ears and the final one talked in third person and thought she could transform into a dragon...


    Once the school had ended, he was walking home when suddenly a familiar voice called out to him. "John! Wait up!" It was Lucy. "Hey. How are you doing?" That was their standard greeting. They first met when some weirdo tried to grope her, muttering something about lolis, but John stopped him with a jump kick. They were firm friends ever since.


    "Do you have Endless online?" Lucy asked out of the blue. "As a matter of fact, yes. I am in the city of Konohoa. I am level one( I lost a level when I died). What about you?"


    "Well I am more active than you. I am currently level 10. I am an apprentice witch and am in Magnolia. I actually have no idea where Konohoa is. Do you?"


    "As a matter of fact no. I just asked the A.I to place me in a place where there were as few players as possible so I ended up there. I will go exploring soon so you will hear from me soon." John smiled. "Anyway, what are you called in Endless online? I am Kira."


    "Well mine''s a secret!" She clamped her hands on her face, peeking through her fingers. She abruptly changed topic. "Apparently we have to physically meet each other to become friends. I hope I find you soon." They were getting to Lucy''s house. Every day they walked together like this. Their conversations ranging from school to fashion to martial arts.


    "Well I have to go now. See you Lucy!" John waved her goodbye. "See you later Kira-kun!" Lucy replied in a playful tone. Her smile widening to a grin. ''Yay he talked to me again!''


    Unknowing of Lucy''s thoughts, John jogged back home; it was good exercise for him. Once got back home, he read a bit about Endless online. Apparently he was the only one in Konohoa, while  most people were in cities such as Area 11 and Camelot. He read about the standard enemies the game had, such as slimes, wolves and skeletons. There were also some unusual ones such as killer rabbits that swarmed you, bandits and dungeon bosses. He read about the different classes and skills, and how to get them. All was for the sake of improving his own performance.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    There were many characteristics copied from other games; guilds, bounties and classes with sub-classes. However, the system of creating your own skills was an entirely new concept; unique to Endless online. It showed just how powerful the A.I truly was.


    "Game, start."


    Logging back on, Kira found himself on an altar of some kind. He had his katana and his cloak, no food, but at least all of his bars were full. ''I guess food should be a priority now.'' Getting up, he went outside. Unfortunately, "I have no clue where I am." He was still in Konohoa, that was for sure, but it was not a place he knew. "Are you lost young lad?" Hearing a person addressing him, Kira turned around. In front of him was a man wearing ordinary clothing. "Sorry I am." Kira laughed. Smiling the passer-by nodded before answering "You are near the edge of the City. If you want I can show you the way out."


    "Sure why not?" Kira answered with a smile, following the man. After walking for a while, the man stopped. "This is the place." He muttered. They were in an alleyway, out of sight, out of mind. "Fellas, come here. I got a good one!" Four men appeared with weapons from the end of the alleyway. Three more joined the ''trustworthy'' man. It was eight vs one, yet Kira was unfazed; he knew exactly what was going on. It was a kidnapping. "Guys we can resolve this peacefully. Back off." Kira threatened. "Haha guys this one thinks he''s tough ''cause ha got a weapon. Let me teach him a lesson." One man stepped forward. Kira faced him. Sheathing his weapon, he took an itai stance: Leaning forward, left hand on sheathe, right on hilt, one foot forward. Once the man got in range, he lunged forward, drawing his weapon. The man still had a grin on his face when his head separated from his body. Blood spurted everywhere, including Kira. However, there wasn''t any blood on his blade. The rest of the men were angry. Charging, they swore.


    "You son of a-" one of them didn''t finish his cursing: His throat had been cut. Another stepped up only to meet the same end. There were five left. By now they had reached him. Two swiped down their swords. Kira blocked both with his katana. Another two behind him lunged at him with the points of their swords. Any other level one would have died, but not Kira. He had already faced life and death situations before. Ducking under the blades of the two men in front of him, Kira withdrew his katana. Turning round to face them, Kira went into the Itai stance once more. The two men that were blocked by him wanted to turn but couldn''t; their fellow kidnapper''s swords were piercing into their chests, killing them. With a surprised look on their faces, they fell.


    Now the men drew more cautious. Five of them had been killed by the man in front of them. It should have been an easy job: Grab the guy and then deliver him to the slavers, they get money and go along their merry way. Unfortunately fate had other plans.


    Kira stepped forward. He didn''t need to be serious to take care of two of them. If was the final one, their boss, that he needed to be careful of. His minions were only level one, that''s why all he needed to kill them was a simple swipe. The boss, however, was a level 9.


    Two cries filled the alleyway. Against a martial artist, these two street thugs stood no chance.  Kira glanced at his notifications. Just by killing these 8 guys, he had already advanced to level 4! Glancing at the boss, Kira readied his weapon. He took a different stance this time. Body turned, feet planted firmly into the ground and his katana was held parallel to the ground above his head yet still pointed at his opponent. Grinning, the boss also got ready. He held a claymore in both hands diagonally, pointed towards Kira. "My name is Tetra. It is an honour to duel with you."


    "My name is Kira. I will end you."


    They both knew only one would get out of here alive; speaking further would be a waste of breath. At some unseen signal, they charged.

 Notice/ rant

    Hello there. Many of you are probably (or not) are asking why I posted so many chapters in one day... The reason is simple: It was to make you guys satisfied for the half term. The way I write my novels is by doing them on my phone, emailing the to a school computer, and posting the story there. WHY NOT AT HOME? I hear you ask. Well, my parents don''t know I write/read novels, watch anime and so forth sooooo its a secret.... Anyway. Because its half term now I will not post for a week. Don''t worry. I will post ALL the chapters I have done during the half term... Five is already done and I half done six...  Expect more than that... Any way, thank you for reading. P.S does anyone know how to post copy and paste without making the writing black and making you (the readers) use light theme? That''d be great...

 Chapter 5

    Running towards his opponent, Kira did not underestimate him. The man had muscles larger than Kira''s thighs and the size of the claymore was nothing to laugh about. With the man''s level 9 above his head, he was an even more dangerous opponent.


    Swinging his katana, Kira found it unexpectedly blocked by the claymore, but due to to the man''s superior strength, the claymore found itself going through the lighter katana. In order to avoid the deadly blow, Kira side-stepped, but his arm was still grazed by the edge of the oversized weapon.


    -60 hp


    ''Fuck! I should not let it hit me at all. Next time it hits me, I will die!''


    Taking that into account, Kira swiped across, hoping to behead the man quickly. Unfortunately, the man''s speed matched his and the blade was avoided. ''I see. The man would be slower than me if I was level nine, heck even if I was level seven. The difference in levels makes up for that. This is not going to be easy. In fact, I may have to cheat.'' Ducking under a horizontal slash, Kira grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Tetra. Blinded, the man could do nothing as Kira slashed once. Twice. CLANG. The swipe that should have killed the man was blocked by the claymore. ''Son of a bitch. One more and I would have won.'' Not losing hope, Kira slashed again, and again only to have his sword blocked once again.


    Tetra counter-attacked; he went for a downwards overhead swing. Seeing an opportunity, Kira raised his sword upwards, going for the block, but that was just a ruse. As soon as the blades connected, the katana gave way, but still deflected it to the side. The sound of metal scraping against metal was unpleasant to the ear but it did not affect Kira. Using the pommel of his sword, he quickly hit Tetra square in the jaw. Stunned, a sudden pain woke Tetra from his stupor. Looking down a katana was in his stomach. The sharp edge pointed upwards, glinting in the sunlight. The katana moved upward, making his senses explode in pain. However, no sound escaped his lips. He was sliced  in half, held together only by his waist. His warm, slick corpse fell face first; blood spilling from its wounds, dirtying the road.


    *Ding* Congratulations. You are now level 5! Please distribute your stat points. Stat points available: 20.


    *Ding* Congratulations. You are now level 5! Please distribute your stat points. Stat points available: 20.


    "Put 3 points into strength, agility, health and mana capacity. For the others, put two."


    His health, stamina and mana went to full every time he leveled up. It did not seem that he was in a life or death battle just moments before if not for the blood on his cloak. Now all he had to do was get rid of the bodies and the weapons; he already had a great weapon and all the other clothes were useless.


    Kira suddenly had an idea; he recalled what he had read in the library: Mana was described to flow. Where mana flowed, magic could be cast from it. Mana was proven to have no organ yet it still existed in the body.


    Kira straightened. He had found the source of magic. What flows in the body and has no organ holding it? The answer was blood. Blood was the life of all living things. *Ding*


    Congratulations! You have found the secret behind mana. You now have mana sensing!


    *Ding* Another notification.


    New skill learnt: Mana sensing.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.Skill effect: You can now sense mana. You can now control the mana in your body. What you do with your new-found power is up to you to decide.


    ''Nice. Now then. Let''s experiment.'' Kira imagined his mana flowing into one of his hands and leaving his body. He then pictured  spark, setting the mana ball alight. Opening his eyes, Kira saw a fireball the size of his fist hovering. *Ding* New skill learnt: Fireball. Consumes 10 mana.


    ''Alright. Let''s get rid of the bodies.'' After picturing the fireball flying towards the eight bodies, he was left with 20 mana. The smell of burnt flesh floated in the air.


    Exiting the alleyway, Kira put the cloak into his inventory; going around with a bloodied cloak seemed highly suspicious.


    He then found himself near to where he respawned. ''This time I hope I can ask someone more trustworthy.'' Finding himself a guard, Kira was given directions to the gates.


    Walking outside the city was a breath of fresh air; the city lacked the freedom, the pureness of the forests and of course the monsters outside...


    As little as a minute later, Kira was being swarmed by a manner of mobs.


    He sidestepped a wolf lunging at him, bringing his blade down on the place where he had been a second before. The wolf fell in two pieces. He kicked another wolf in the face, making it roll away before finishing it off with an axe kick to the throat. He burnt another one with a fireball. However, he was not without injury. He had various cuts and bruises where the animals had successfully connected to him. He was down to 30 health.


    Suddenly, the pack of wolves ran off. For some, that would have been great; not for Kira though. He knew the law of the jungle. The only reason a strong predator would run off would be if an even stronger predator appeared. Standing less than 30 meters away, was a red bear. It had probably been attracted to the blood and corpses which Kira was currently standing in the midst of. A level 16 flashed over its head. ''This is not good... I better get out of here.'' Turning tail, Kira started running, hoping the bear liked to eat corpses more than live food. Apparently not. As he ran, Kira could feel the ground trembling as a tonne behemoth ran across it. The distance shortened;


    25 meters


    15 meters


    ''Ah shit. I won''t be able to run. Then its either fighting and dying like a man or running and dying like a bitch.'' "COME AT ME YOU STUPID BEAR!" The bear did just that.


    It swiped with its claws. Kira dodged, but still felt pain. Looking down, he saw that his left arm was not connected; instead, it was in the mouth of the bear. "Fuuuuucccckkk!!!!" Kira screamed. He was sure he dodged that. What he didn''t know was that the bear had activated its skill called ''Air claws.'' They allow the bear to extend the range of its claws by 30cm and that is what took Kira''s arm.


    *Ding* Bleeding status in effect. You will lose health until you stop the bleeding!


    "Pain nullification my arse" he swore. Fighting with one arm was going to awkward and wrong. Gripping his weapon, Kira charged, only to be bitchslapped into a tree. That was the effect of a large level difference.


    *Ding* You have received a concussion! You will fall unconscious!


    Closing his eyes, the last thing Kira saw was the bear sauntering up to his body.


    *Ding* You have died! You cannot log back in for 24 hours!

 Chapter 6

    Taking the helmet off, John was pretty pissed off. "Next time I meet you I will kill you!" He swore to himself. He then got dressed and went for some training.


    Today was half term so he had a lot of free time. He visited places not far from his house and he went to see his relatives to have a spar with them. Once he got back home, the 24 hour limit had long passed.


    Once again, Kira woke up on the altar. ''long time no see, eh?'' Walking out, Kira now knew the way out. He knew his faults and wanted to improve himself. So, in next couple of hours, Kira did 100 squats, 100 press ups and did a 10km run on a hot day to improve both his body and mental attitude.


    He also created a new spell. It happened accidentally,  when he was thinking on how to paralyze his opponent and damage them at the same time. Then he remembered the standard RPG paralysis element: Lightning. Thus, Kira''s latest skill: Lightning bolt.The spell was simple enough; lightning shot out from his hand and paralyzed his opponent. It fried wolves with two shots!


    Unfortunately it cost his 30 mana so at best he could do 4 shots at a time (if you don''t get how RPG games work, your mana/health increases by 10 for every point put into it). Although he had got back up to level 5, he still was not confident in beating the bear, even with the lightning bolt. Thus he trained for the next three days: 100 squats, 100 press ups and a 10km run.


    His strength, stamina and agility rose to a level where he could theoretically take on multiple wolves barehanded. He did just that.


    Putting his katana away into his inventory, Kira strode out into the woods, deep enough to draw the wolves out, but not far enough to draw the bear''s attention. In any case, he would break a wolf''s leg and throw it at the bear. When the first pack of eight wolves appeared, Kira was ready to fight.


    It was a typical wolf tactic: Circle around the target, attack randomly until the enemy goes down, then they go in for the throat, killing their prey quickly. It was a sure-kill method, but their target was Kira and he was not the one to back down when something threatened him. ''Whoever strikes first, wins'' Using that methodology, Kira attacked.


    Lunging at the wolf in front of him, Kira grabbed the wolf by the muzzle and twisted sharply. A cry later, a wolf died. ''God damn this is realistic. Makes me almost pity them''. By now, two new wolves had lunged.   Dodging the first one, Kira concussed the second wolf by hitting it with the palm of his hand. Another, clever, wolf tried to bite his ankles but failed; Kira jumped and landed on the wolf''s head. ''He''s now a few brain cells short.'' Getting off the wolf, Kira went back a few steps to allow the remaining five wolves to think about their casualties.


    Apparently not a lot of time was needed for that. Three of them immediately jumped at him. Kira threw two fireballs at the two on the sides and did something not really recommendable: He head-butted the wolf.


    The two wolves on fire ran around  yelping for a second or two until they just fell down, dead. The one that was hit was shaken but not dead. ''Looks as though I am not the one punch man of wolves yet. Let''s try this.'' He infused his hands with mana and set them alight. And although fire was coating his fists, he did not feel any pain nor lose any health. Grinning, Kira looked at the terrified wolves. "Come here, my precious exp bags!" Smiling like a madman, he  jumped at them.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Less than a minute later, Kira finally ran out of mana. He killed two of the remaining three. Now it was the alpha male of the pack. The wolf was quite a bit larger than the rest of his former pack. "You''ll be joining them soon." Snarling the beast howled as it rushed towards Kira. The beast was quick.  When the wolf was in mid-air, Kira dodged but still lost health. ''He used his tail to attack me!'' He realised. ''That clever son of a gun.'' He braced himself, getting ready to counterattack.


    Kira sized the wolf up. It landed gracefully and was still snarling at him. He grinned. "YOU ARE MY OPPONENT! IT IS AN HONOUR!" Although it did nothing to affect the wolf, it was something he said before a fight; be it in a street fight or martial arts tournament, and only if the opponent was strong.


    Not knowing the meaning of the words, the wolf howled in response. They both charged at each other. The alpha wolf jumped, aiming at Kira''s throat. Kira ducked under but grabbed the wolf''s front paws. Flipping it over, he unleashed a lightning bolt into it through his hands. Yelping, the wolf bit Kira''s arms. Yelling through the pain, Kira did an uppercut with his left arm. Stunned, the wolf shook its head. With his left arm controlling the wolf''s lower body, his arm in the wolf''s mouth and his mana drained, Kira only had one option of killing it. Bending down, he savagely tore at the throat, biting fur and flesh alike. Blood splashed on every part of his face, blinding him. Ignoring the loss of his eyesight, Kira still bit. And bit. And bit long after the wolf had died. Exhausted, Kira stood up.


    Corpses surrounded him; blood covered him. He looked more like a sadistic psychopath than a martial artist otaku. *Ding*


    You have reached level 6! Please distribute your stat points. Stat points available: 5


    "Same as usual." Already knowing where he liked to put his points, the system put them where he wanted to.


    *Ding* Title earned:Savage!


    ''Well that''s interesting. It''s probably because I bit a wolf to death. Strange perquisites though.''


    Kira had already tried putting corpses into his inventory, but it hadn''t worked. Only inanimate objects could be put in. This included skins of animals, as he had found out. ''I really want to skin them, but I don''t have a knife.'' He had already gone camping with his family, but it involved a lot more that just sitting over the campfire singing songs. It involved hunting, skinning and eating their prey. Apparently a bear''s hide is very good to keep oneself warm.


    An idea. He went back to adventurer''s hall to see the receptionist. "Haven''t seen you in a long time. You seem to be doing fine." She remarked on his bloodied clothes. "You should''ve seen the other guy. By the way, is there any way to get money to buy a skinning knife?"


    "Well a skinning knife costs around 30 copper coins. I see you have around 10 right? Well the way you gain money is by doing odd jobs. Over there is the job offers. Also, the way you show proof of monster subjugation is by cutting their ears. You also gain extra by bringing back body parts that the alchemist association can use in their potions."


    Nodding his thanks Kira walked up to the board. There were several jobs he noticed.


    1.Overthrow an evil empire by joining Nightraid.  Warning: There will be casualties


    2.Help Gon find his father. Reward will be given when found.


    3.Monster subjugation: Kill any number of wolves and bring their teeth back as proof. For every wolf killed and brought in in good condition, 10 copper will be paid.


    ''Definitely not 1 or 2 as they''re too long and I like living so I will go for option 3.'' Kira took the job and went out of the city. ''This shouldn''t be too hard, but I have to do this quickly.'' Kira then went hunting.

 Chapter 7

    Time went by quickly; he had increased his attack power to the caliber that it killed a wolf in one shot without much difficulty. After beheading entire packs and giving the teeth to the alchemist association, Kira finally bought a knife. He had gained several levels and even found a finishing move. He was going to test that one out later...


    Now prepared and confident of his ability to kill the bear, Kira smiled as he logged off.


    During break and lunch, Hajime once again talked about Endless online. "So then I said to her ''Get out of my face'' and the second I died from a scratch! That weapon was too Op man I tell you."


    "I got to level 10 and almost died. Some dude named King killed this giant, and it almost fell on me!"


    "Oh yeah, did you guy hear about the newest update?" John immediately listened in. Updates usually improved gameplay. "The company has decided to get rid of health bars." Many of the listeners were in shock; the health bar was always prevalent in RPG games! Why did they decide to remove it? "They did a press conference on this. I recorded it!" Hajime went to a nearby computer and pulled out a memory stick. People crowded round the screen, including John.


    The screen showed the CEO of the company that made Endless online. He was a large man but had an atmosphere that was both intimidating and friendly. How he achieved that, Kira didn''t know.


    The reporter started off by asking small talk and many people grew impatient, telling Hajime to get it to the correct place. "Fine, fine. Wait a bit."


    Once he had finally found the correct moment, the video started playing.


    "So why did you decide to remove the health bar? It is the way standard RPGs are played." The old man lightly smiled and replied "Well many at our company believe that when a person has a health bar in front of them, the tend to act recklessly,  do not pay attention and throw caution to the wind; dying in situations that, if thought out properly, were doable."


    "Alright, so how will this update affect health potions. Apparently, some alchemist players complained that their income would drop."


    "Fear not, alchemist players. Potions that are the equivalent of health potions will replace said potions, but instead of filling the health bar, they will heal the body and restore stamina. A beginner potion might close a cut, whilst the most powerful potion might restore limbs."


    "So, Mister Jiraiya, have you thought about the possibility of a level one player defeating a level 50 player? That sounds a bit unbalanced."


    "If a level one player defeats a level 50 player, then its the player''s fault for not paying attention to their surroundings." Jiraiya chuckled. "I personally think that this is more realistic and more beneficial. I am sure this update will be more enjoyable for all of you."


    "I see. Well then, thank you for coming here tonight Mr Jiraiya. Now there have been several murd-"


    Hajime paused the video. "Personally I agree with the CEO." John stated and everybody started to discuss their views. Almost everyone agreed. To be fair, it did make it more realistic and hardcore. To martial artists like John, this was a blessing.


    At home, John did his homework and ate. As usual, his parents weren''t home; they were at work. However, John didn''t mind this; he had already gotten used to it and knew in the future he might have to do the same. ''Lucy wasn''t in today. Wonder if Endless online allows you to play this whilst you''re sick.''


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    Logging on, Kira found out that the health bar was already removed. ''They sure act quickly.''


    He then realised that all his stat points that were originally in health were now reset! Smiling to himself, he placed the stat points into agility, mana capacity and stamina.


    Walking towards the forest, Kira strangely didn''t encounter any wolf packs. Then he noticed. Wolves lying on the ground. Corpses upon corpses and in the middle of a pile stood a giant red bear.   ''There was a massive brawl between the wolves and the bear. The bear won by miles.'' The bear looked at Kira. ''It isn''t injured.Dammit! It seems as though he''s enjoying the breeze!''


    Sensing the latest danger, the bear faced Kira. It knew that the one in front was more dangerous than the ones previously, so it tensed up. Kira took out his katana and got ready. He poured mana into it, making fire blaze on the orange handle.


    Kira''s weapon looked as though it was made entirely out of flames. Sensing danger, the bear roared, trying to scare its hunter away. "YOU ARE MY OPPONENT! IT IS AN HONOUR!" They both charged.


    The bear swiped. If Kira had been three level lower, just as he was when they first met, the air claws would had taken Kira''s head off. But alas, Kira was level 11 now, he had put the stat points he had regained from the lost health into agility so he was far quicker than the red bear. Dodging the claws, Kira slashed upwards, severing the limb of the bear halfway. The fire cauterised the wound, bringing intense pain to the bear. Seeing the bear howling in pain, Kira couldn''t resist dropping a one-liner. "Looks like you can bear it can you?" He asked his prey. Growling, the beast tried to swipe at him with the injured limb. Bad move. Once again he dodged the paw but now he brought the flaming sword downwards, finally severing it.


    Grabbing the arm, Kira retreated and started eating it. It tasted slightly bad, but what do you expect from raw meat? The intended effect was to scare the bear and boy was it effective.


    "How does it feel eh? You did the same to me so why shouldn''t I do the same to you?? Kira explained to the bear in-between mouthfuls of bear meat. Grimacing in pain, the bear stood on its hind legs, trying to intimidate Kira. Smirking Kira ran behind the bear and stabbed behind the knees. "Standing means you''re less mobile, you lumbering shit." He then cut the tendons, but cancelled the flames on his blade; they drained his mana quickly and he didn''t need them now. He then proceeded to cut the tendons on the bear''s remaining good arm, causing it to slump forward. A fearsome hunter reduced to such a state was pitiful. The entire fight, if it could be called that, lasted barely five minutes. The best had various cuts along its legs, causing it to have the ''bleed'' status. With a look of acceptance, it closed its eyes.


    Seeing the act of the dying bear, Kira strode up to the head, raised his blade and infused mana into it. Instead of just flames, lightning roared across the katana. It was Kira''s finishing move. It could only be used once; such was the mana drain.


    Swinging the sword down, Kira screamed "SWORD OF THE LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON!"


    It was a clean cut, no blood nor skin hanging off the neck, such was the speed and severity of the blow.


    *Ding* Congratulations! You are now level 12! Please assign the sat points. Stat points available: 6


    *Ding* Congratulations! Your sword mastery has reached intermediate! Your control over your sword is now much more fluid and precise!


    ''Oh, so I guess the higher the level, the more stat points you gain... Putting 2 into mana, one into agility, he put 1 into intelligence and 1 into wisdom.


    Exhausted, Kira sat down near the corpse. Then he remembered the second reason as to why he had killed the bear: It makes a good fur coat.


    Putting away the katana, Kira brought out the skinning knife. Thinking of how to make the best out of the mess he had made, he went to work on the corpse.

 Chapter 8

    Once he had finished skinning the coat, Kira proceeded to wear it instead of his adventurer''s cloak. Looking around, Kira noticed a pile of coins and a mask lying on the ground. The coins are useful, so he picked them up. The mask was the thing that interested him; there were a few masked players, but their masks were bought, not dropped.


    The mask had a thin red line for the mouth and a purple lightning bolt on one eye. Inspecting it, Kira was pleased with what he saw.


    Mask of Hei


    10% chance to add electric damage to your opponent.


    Adds ten strength and agility


    "Motherfucking awesome." Equipping the mask and the red cloak, Kira went to town. When he entered, the people around him looked at him with eyes of fear and respect. When he entered the adventurer''s hall, even the receptionists looked at him in wonder.


    "Hello is there anything I could help you with sir?" Kira smiled. They obviously didn''t recognise him. "Its me-Kira." Taking the mask off, he smiled at the receptionist. With her mouth agape, she quickly asked him about the cloak. "That is the hide of the red mountain bear. It''s supposed to be the strongest monster around! Lots of new recruits have formed teams and died but you solo''d it! How?"


    "I grew stronger. I made up some skills and used them against him. It was actually pretty intense but it was worth it; it makes a pretty good fur coat. By the way, what parts of the bear are useful?" Shocked at such a question Mira said every part of the mountain king was useful. Trading the bear''s head for some coins, Kira went and bought some food for the journey ahead. He also bought a canteen to store water. He checked the time. ''It''s about time I logged off for karate...'' Logging off, Kira went to practice for future.


    Once had logged back on, Kira decided to go further into the woods. This time, all of the remaining wolves stayed away from him- they knew about the massacre and who had killed the king of the forest.


    He noticed a small lake and lights dancing around the edge of it. Walking up to the lake, the lights suddenly ran away, as though fearing Kira.


    Suddenly, through the bushes came a rustling sound. Turing to face the direction of the sound, Kira gripped the handle of his katana. From the bushes appeared an old man. He was bald and his eyes were covered with red sunglasses. His triangular beard covered his Hawaiian shirt. He had a stick he used to walk with. To the average person, this man wouldn''t appear to be a threat, but Kira''s instincts told him otherwise. A man this old should have died from wolves- they never let weak prey go. Yet, the man stood in front of him.


    "Hello there young man, what are doing in a place like this?"


    "I could ask you the same thing. My name is Kira. What is yours?"


    "Polite, courageous and cautious. You''re the first one to be still on guard after they saw how frail-looking I am. Anyway, my name is Master Roshi. You are well trained, if you have survived this far into the woods."


    "I could say the same thing about you." Kira retorted. He still hadn''t put his katana away. He still didn''t know the man''s true purpose and he also couldn''t see the man''s level. Endless online was funny like that; if someone was 10 levels higher than you, you wouldn''t be able to see their level. It would just be question marks. This man was clearly over level 22. "You can put that thing down. I promise I mean you no harm." Kira sheathed his sword.


    Walking towards the lake, Kira was surprised as Master Roshi also did the same. Kira brought out a canteen and filled it with the water. He glanced at the old man. Instead of doing anything to the water, the old man was staring at him. "What do you want? You''re creeping me out."


    Smiling, the old man asked Kira. "Do you want to have a spar? I haven''t met someone as young as you but as experienced as you." Raising his eyebrow, Kit nodded. "With weapons or barehanded?"


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    "Let''s try weapons for now, shall we?" Even before the old man stopped talking, Kira had already rushed towards him, blade low. Once he had gotten in range, he swung upwards, only to have been met by thin air. The man hadn''t just dodged the blade by a hairs breath, but actually disappeared- he was actually that fast that the time dilatation between the two was massive. ''Alright let''s see if he can dodge lightning arrows.'' Gathering mana into his hands, Kira looked around and saw the man standing near the water.


    He threw the arrow but once again it missed. Suddenly the old man appeared right in front of Kira startling him. Master Roshi raised his hand and flicked him in the forehead. "It''s my win." He said, smirking.


    "Goddammit, you''re too quick." Kira replied in self-defense. "Well done on the quick thinking by the way. You immediately knew that I was too fast for you so you switched tactics. How did you make those arrows without chants?" Suspicious, Kira didn''t reply; why would you say your secrets?


    "Oh I get it. How about this: You tell me your secret and I will tell you a secret about your sword?"


    "That seems like a fair trade. But what is the secret about? I don''t want some useless skill."


    "Ahhh. Well done. I was about to give you a useless skill but now... I will tell you how to find your swords skikai or their true name."


    "Fine. I can cast spells based on my imagination, proficiency and mana capacity. I once read in a book that mana was in every living being and that mana could flow. What flows in the body? Blood. Mana is connected with blood and suddenly I found that I could manipulate mana in my body."


    "Well I am impressed. I also read that but I didn''t get the link! Alright. Time to keep my side of the bargain. A shikai is allows your sword to have a second form. To find your swords true name you must find out if you''re worthy or not, it all depends on the swords opinion of you. There is also a stage after that called bankai but that''s for another day. There are two types of shikai- permanent and changeable. If you find out your swords shikai and it doesn''t change back to a katana, then it''s a permanent one but if it does... Well you get the picture. Do you understand?" Nodding, the old man continued.


    "The shikai also has abilities that are very useful and can only be surpassed by the bankai. The way to activate to the shikai is by saying a single sentence with a vowel that links to the bankai. Take mine for example." He brought out two pistols. They were identical in every little thing. Master Roshi held them a bit differently from the norm. He held them upside-down and instead of using the index finger to fire the weapons he used his pinky.


    "Fire in perfect synchronization, Patrica and Elizabeth."


    The guns started to shine and expand. They enveloped his upper arms and the gun barrel increased in size. Once they had stopped growing, the light broke down into particles revealing what was underneath. The small pistols were totally different. They looked like someone attached shotgun barrels to an amputee but it looked strangely beautiful. Skulls with three giant teeth adored the side. Both weapons were identical to each other. Bringing his arms up, Master Roshi fired at a tree.


    BOOOM.


    Once the dust had cleared, there was nothing of the tree left standing. "Well, impressed?" He asked the shocked Kira. "Very."


    "Now, the way you find your shikai is through meditation. Although it may sound simple, you must enter the world of your sword. In fact, the trance you should enter means that any injuries made to the real body are ignored. Some swords give their name willingly, others you must fight for the name. A sword will share the same personality as its owner so keep that in mind."


    Whilst he was talking, he grabbed a water canteen and filled it. Then, once he had finished talking, he got up to leave. "Until next time, Kira."


    "Have a good journey." Seeing the old man off, Kira placed the katana on his lap and started meditating.

 Chapter 9

    Kira relaxed. The wind picked a few leaves and they followed the wind. However, none of this affected Kira. He was already in a deep trance and didn''t feel the breeze. He didn''t hear the grass swaying or the waves of the lake. All that mattered to him was meditating. Time passed and Kira still ignored everything, even when the floating lights returned.


    "So you finally appeared. Took you long enough." Opening his eyes, he saw a woman with red eyes and a katana. They were standing on a small island surrounded by water. No other land in sight. Kira glanced at the girl and immediately knew she was well-trained. "Of course I am well trained. I am the personification of you. Your personality is my personality. Your memories are my memories." She suddenly spoke. "I know your thoughts in here. You are here to learn my true name so you can release your shikai." She smiled. "I will decide I you''re worthy. We will fight, but, if you receive even a scratch, you will die. So lets get started."


    She jumped in the air, doing a front flip, she brought the sword down on Kira''s head only for the blade to be blocked. Kira kicked her in the stomach and swiped horizontally, hoping to end the fight quickly. "Not a chance." She smirked and jumped backwards, dodging the blade. She got into a stance, which Kira mirrored. "You hope to end this in one blow." They both said this at the same time. The girl started running towards him, whilst Kira just stood there. When she was less than five meters away, Kira jumped in the air, unleashing a lightning arrow followed by a fireball. He then threw a lightning arrow right behind the fireball.


    The girl dodged the lightning and cut the fireball in half. However, she didn''t notice the lightning so she was hit. She screamed in pain and stumbled. Ignoring the girl''s screams, Kira ran straight towards her.  However, the look was just a ploy. She smiled and Kira caught the smile. She swiped, aiming to take his legs but he was not there; Kira had jumped, avoiding the killer blow. He then stabbed down.


    Helpless, the girl could do nothing as the sword pierced her. "Well done. You are worthy of learning your shikai."


    Turning around, Kira saw the girl standing in front of him. Glancing back down as to where her corpse should be, he saw nothing but the ground. Standing up, the girl approached him and whispered into his ear. Once she had said the sentence to unlock the shikai, she leaned back and said "Remember this sentence, for I will never tell it to you again. I will see you again when you decide to learn your bankai. Goodbye for now, Kira"


    Kira suddenly woke up with a start. *Ding* A notification.


    Congratulations on learning your shikai! No two shikai are identical. They all have additional abilities that you must unlock. A shikai''s power will reflect on the owner''s bankai.


    ''Nice. Thank you Master Roshi.'' Seeing that he was still alone, he logged off and joined the real world. It was time for kendo.


    Exhausted after Kendo practice, John didn''t want to log back on so he got ready for school. He had spent over five hours in Endless online and he decided it was enough for today.


    The next day, school life went on as normal. Hajime talked about his misadventures and the players with the highest levels. There were some leveling maniacs such as  Monkey.D or EdwardLric who were already in the 40s. School went quickly, especially with John sleeping through some lessons.


    On the way back, John met Lucy on the way. They talked about how Kira killed the bear, meeting Master Roshi and learning his shikai.


    Lucy, however, had her own adventures. She was level 20 after killing some goblins and a giant hamster with a reptilian tail. Her class was apparently berserker and the longer she fought the stronger she became. "I long fights that is going to be pretty handy." John smiled. "I know right?" Lucy excitedly exclaimed, happy with the praise. She then thought about something. "You should also get a class too. I want you to have the strongest class!"


    "There shouldn''t be a strongest class. If there was, it would be too overpowered and the developers would nerf it. Every class is good in their own way." He patted her head. "Although thanks for worrying about me Lucy. Oh well, I have to go. Bye."


    Waving as he walked off, John didn''t notice the ecstatic look on her face as she realised she had been patted. ''OhmyGodhetouchedmethisisthebestdsyofmylife.'' Such thoughts were common in Lucy''s head, strangely enough.


    Once John got home, he prepared to play for a long time. Today was Friday and he had no homework so he was free most of the weekend. John logged on as Kira.


    Floating lights danced around him. Kira looked more closely and saw that in fact they were little people with wings. Fairies. "Mesmerizing." He breathed out. Realizing that the person in front of them was awake, the little people panicked and flew away. Disappointed that he couldn''t see the pretty light show for longer, Kira stood up. He glanced at his sanitary levels and saw that they were nearing the red. Gulping down some wolf meat, he proceeded to walk through the forest. He admired the plants but didn''t dare to pick the up- they could be poisonous.


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    He had walked for about an hour without anything happening when he realized he was being followed. The odd stick breaking and crunching leaves gave them away. Once he got to a clearing, he stopped. "Now then ladies. Is there anything you want from a weary traveller such as myself?" He seemingly asked thin air. "Yeh, we want yur belongings, innit?" A gruff and unpleasant voice answered.


    Stepping out of the bushes were 20 odd men, clearly armed; clearly bandits. ''Sigh. This is going to be troublesome. All of them are at least the same level as me.'' He glanced at the apparent leader. He was the highest amongst them: Level 20 ''Actually, this will be a good time to test my shikai out.'' The bandits readied their weapons. Drawing his katana, he held the sword in two hands vertically near his face. Kira then muttered:


    "Reap, heaven''s wheel."


    Kira''s katana started glowing, making the bandits hesitate to approach. The light expanded, going beyond the hilt. The blade thickened, forming a double edged sword. The hilt also extended, and the light grew downwards, showing a double edged sword. The light scattered, scaring the bandits.


    Kira''s weapon looked like someone stuck two swords together. The height, in fact, was just larger than Kira himself. "Allow yourselves to become test subjects for my new weapon." He grinned evilly and charged.


    One bandit raised his sword. Kira spun underneath him, cutting him in two. Two bandits swiped at him; one high, one low. Kira parried both and spun round decapitating one and then kicking the low one in the face. All this was done without hesitation, without stopping.


    He stabbed a bandit in the stomach then, using the other sword end, he stabbed a second. Five of them had been put out of commission in just 20 seconds.


    Kira then block a swipe to his face by swinging down. The swords clashed, but the other man was winning in terms of strength. After being pushed back for a second, Kira brought up the other half of his weapon, severing the man in two. He launched a fireball at 10 of his enemies. He could do that now; he had over 150 mana and fireball cost only 10 mana.


    The last of the flaming ten died less than 30 seconds later. In the space of two minutes, 20 bandits became 5. They clearly were not winning. Nervous, they huddled round, brandishing their weapons. Kira stopped 5 meters away from them; he hadn''t used his shikai''s ability yet and they were perfect for the first try.


    "Scatter and fall, Amaterasu!"


    He stabbed his weapon into the ground and from it, black smoke came coiling out. It surrounded the bandits. "Please don''t kill us!" They stammered. Kira smirked, it was already too late to do anything.


    The smoke suddenly thickened and the bandits vanished from view. Screams could be heard but they were quickly silenced. Once the smoke had dissipated, the bandits were puddles.


    *Ding* Congratulations! For clearing out 20 bandits, your fame grows by 20!


    *Ding* Congratulations! You are now level 13! Please assign stat points. Stat points aviliable: 6


    "Same as usual please." He said nonchalantly, picking up anything of value. He looked around. Crows had already been attracted to the smell of flesh; it wasn''t long before other predators came as well. Kira walked off, trusting his instincts. His bladed staff had already turned back into a katana. ''Thank goodness.'' He thought. ''It would''ve been hard to carry around in cities.

 Chapter 10

    Then he remembered- he needed a class. But what class would suit him? He was both a warrior and a mage. Only classes such as spellbades or close combat mages suited people such as himself. ''Oh well. I''ll find out once I get to the next city.''


    Whilst he walked, he saw a pack of wolves attacking a young girl. She wore adventurer''s clothing and had pink hair. She was waving a knife furiously at the wolves but to no avail. They surrounded her and, just when they were about to jump at her, five of them had been fried with lightening bolts whilst the other three were burnt.


    She looked around, flustered. She spied Kira about 30 meters away from her. He saluted her and started to walk off. "Wait! Wait for me!" She shouted when she saw her savior was walking away. Kira frowned, he didn''t want to be part of a party; if she invited him to a party he would refuse.


    "Thank you! I thought I was a goner! My name is Yuno. What''s yours?" She asked him once she had finally caught up. "Kira." She looked at his equipment. "You must be pretty high leveled to kill an entire pack without problem. What level are you?" Kira was shocked- this meant she wasn''t even level 3! "13. Actually that was my entire mana pool. What are you doing so deep in the forest Yuno?"


    "This isn''t actually that deep. The town is about ten minutes walk in that direction." She pointed. "Wait, does that mean you came from another town? They''re supposed to be miles apart from each other, and you have to kill a bear befor-" She noticed what material his cloak was made out of. "Oh." She said dejectedly. "I am going back now, could you please go to town with me? I have no courage I protecting myself." She timidly asked; Kira swore he could see her blush. Nodding the set off together.


    "So what class are you?" She asked him after two minutes, breaking the awkward silence. "Classless, but I hope to get a class when I get to town." She looked at him with wonder in her eyes; the man in front of her was too amazing- he had taken down a bear classless! "I am guessing you want a wizard class." Kira chuckled. "You''re half-correct. I want to be a magical swordsman." Growling snapped them out of their conversation. It was a pack of wolves. "Help, please." Yuno clutched Kira''s arm. Five lightning bolts and three fireballs answered her request.


    *Ding* Congratulations! Your mastery of your fireball allows it to level up to intermediate! You have unlock spell brilliant flame! Costs 40 mana.


    *Ding* Congratulations! Your mastery of lightning bolt has allows it to level up to intermediate! You have unlocked new spell lightning spear! Costs 50 mana.


    Startled, Kira read the notifications and smirked. "What happened?" Yuno asked him by his side, seeing his expression. "Nothing. Let''s go."


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.They soon reached the town. Saying their goodbyes, Yuno and Kira parted ways. "Make sure you start off with enemies your level next time ok?" Kira said patted her absentmindedly; he had a habit of doing this; no one knew why, but all the people who had their heads patted by Kira reported that his petting skills were first class. Anyway, Kira went in search of the adventurers guild.


    He pushed open the guild doors and got the exact same stares as before: Stares of wonder and respect, and it was all due to the red pelt that he used as his cloak.


    "Hello sir, is there anything I could help you with?" The receptionist asked him. She was a white haired girl with the name tag of Yukine. "Yes actually, I would like to sell these." He brang out the weapons and pelts. He pointed to the weapons. "You can give any price, I am not too picky, but for the pelts I would like the standard price." He had gained over 80 copper for the pelts  and 300 copper for the weapons, bringing his total revenue to three silver coins and 80 copper coins.


    "There is one other thing you can help me with." The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "Where can I get a class change. I want to be a magical swordsman." She smiled. "Actually this is where you get your class change, you can only get your fist class when you''re level 10, and the second class when you''re level 20, and the third class when you''re level 40. A class unlocks every 20 levels. I assume you''re qualified for your first class." Kit nodded, she was correct. He needed seven more levels for the second class. The receptionist continued.


    "The way that a class change works is by looking at you combat history and deciding your aptitude towards classes. You then decide out of the choices given. Is that alright?"


    "That seems perfectly fine." She hurriedly ran back to get a crystal. When she returned, she was panting; the crystal was obviously heavy. "Place your hands on it." Kira did so and the crystal started to shine a bright light. All heads in the guild turned towards him; a class change was always interesting- some got what they wanted, some didn''t.


    *Ding* Congratulations on your class change! Here are your options: Mage. Warrior. Magic swordsman. Berserker.


    "Magic swordsman please."


    *Ding* Your class has been changed to magic swordsman. Beware, you cannot change it.


    Smiling to himself, Kira went up to the job offers. He looked at all of them but the one about killing the local bear was incredibly attractive. Taking the job, Kira marched out of the guild.


    Some of the people in the hall glanced at each other, and stood to leave. They all had the same insignia.

 Chapter 11

    Walking around town, he saw some merchants showing some blue potions. He walked up. The merchant immediately focused on the approaching Kira. "Hello young man, would you like some mana potions? Or some restoration potions?"


    "Only the mana potions. I''ve got questions. How much mana do they restore? Are they immediate or work over time? How much do they cost?"


    The merchant calmly answered all of Kira''s questions. "40. They are immediate. They cost 30 copper coins." Kira thought about it and gave the merchant 2 silver coins and 70 copper ones. "Pleasure doing business with you sir!" He shouted at the Kira''s back as he walked away.


    People around the merchant looked at him in shocked expressions. Most people only bought one or two. Even mages at most bought five. Who was this person to buy nine all at once? The people following Kira smiled. Jackpot. They thought. If they could get this rich person to join them, they could prosper. "Got get the boss." One of them motioned to his subordinate. "He will like this one."


    Kira walked on, clueless as to the situation that''s as going to befall him. As he walked, he killed three packs of wolves, finally bringing to level 14. He assigned his stat points as usual and carried on forward. He didn''t care about the skins; Let someone else get them. After half an hour of walking, he finally came across the bear, fearing on the remains of an adventurer. "Hello there. I am here to kill you." Wanting to finish this off quickly, he cast lightning spear.


    He raised his hand up into a javelin thrower''s position. Long, thin lightning bolts collected together to form a spear. Kira threw it. The spear flew true to its aim, hitting the bear straight in the face. Convulsing, the bear died. The bear dropped some coins and an item of clothing, which he picked up.


    "Boy that was anticlimactic, but it showed just how effective the spell is. Better get to work on the corpse." He bent down, took the skinning knife and started cutting.


    About an hour later, just as Kira was about to finish dismantling the final part of the bear, about 40 people came out of the woods. They all bore the same insignia- Hawks. Kira stood up and rested his hands on the hilt of the katana.


    "Hello there." A man walked out of the woods. He was wearing armour that didn''t include a helmet. His flowing white hair reminded him of someone but couldn''t remember who; there were too many anime characters with white hair.


    "My name is Griff and I am the leader of the band of the hawk. I would like you to join us." Kira analysed them, just in case. "Unfortunately, I am not interested in joining any guild or band at the moment. Please be on your way, or any further steps will be regarded as hostile." The white haired man smirked. "You don''t have a choice in this. You WILL join us. We will kill you if you don''t join now and spawn rape you until you quit the game!" He started laughing. "Kill him." He motioned to the thugs next to him.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Kira went into an Itai stance and swiped. One of them died before Kira had to retreat. A fireball flew past him- they have a mage! Looking at the formation of his enemy, he smirked; they were all on one straight line. "Bad move." He shouted at them. "You''re all in one straight line." The men hesitated. How could it be a bad move? Kira kindly demonstrated.


    He sheathed his katana and raised his hands above his head. In between them, a flame gathered. It grew larger and larger until it was four meters in diameter. "BRILLIANT FLAME OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" He swung his hands down, unleashing the massive fireball on the unsuspecting guild. One enemy. Three enemies. Five. Ten. It swallowed them all, leaving only their weapons behind. However, it didn''t manage to reach Griff. The giant fireball dissipated before it reached him, who was over 20 meters away, running for his life. Even the bear''s corpse was burnt. This that had managed to survive the fire looked around shocked. There had been 40, now there were 20. Twenty. TWENTY HAD BEEN KILLED IN ONE ATTACK!


    Kira coldly glanced at the scared remnants of the guild. "You tried to kill me. Isn''t fair I do the same to you?" Even if they answered ''no,'' he would''ve ignored them.


    ''I don''t need my shikai against guys of this caliber.'' He rushed towards five them. Each and every one of them was beheaded, not giving them time to defend. Looking to the direction of the other 15, he threw a lightning spear. The spear was so powerful it went through one person and hit the thing behind it. Using that to its full advantage, Kira had killed eight before they realised what he was doing. They scattered.


    He closed in on a swordsman. The man swore and tried to kill Kira with a downwards swing, but had his chest pierced with  the tip of the katana. Coughing up blood, the man fell, but even before the man''s knees touched the ground, Kira had moved on to a fleeing wizards, disembowelling him. He had enough mana for one more lightning spear. He selected his target and thee his spear at Griff. The man noticed the incoming projectile, and tried to use a human shield- his own guild mate. If it had been a lightning arrow or an ordinary fireball, it would''ve worked. Unfortunately, it was a lightning spear and it passed through the body, killing Griff. They both fell down.


    Kira glanced towards the bear. It was unsalvageable after the spell. ''Oh well. Gotta make do with what I have.'' Picking up all the drops, Kira went to town. He had gained 80 copper from these people, and he was going to get more once he sold the weapons.


    He walked without a care in the world, not knowing there was one enemy he missed, or that he was being recorded.


    Hey guys, Tealover here. I want to ask your opinion: Should our main character have a pet, or a sidekick, or keep him as the lone swordsman? Put your opinions in the comments( I have NO idea how to make a poll.)

 Chapter 12

    Kira returned to town without a hitch. He went straight to the adventurers guild to report of his success. Yukine was really surprised how quickly he had returned. "It hasn''t been three hours yet you''ve already returned?"


    "I could''ve returned faster if not for some pests wanting me to join their guild." She looked at him in concern. "How many were there and how did you get out of there? You''re a level larger and you don''t have any guild mark on you. You killed them didn''t you?"


    "There were about 40, but I killed around 38 of them so I think I left a deep impression on them. They didn''t require me to fight at my strongest power so they sucked."


    Yukine once again gasped. Only high leveled players could do that, usually when their opponents were a lot weaker than them. But the man in front of her had killed a bear, and the majority of a guild, when he was only level 15!


    Kira shrugged and went to the job board. There were not jobs of interest so he went to the local library. ''Knowledge is power.'' The library wasn''t too far away from the guild so he arrived quite quickly.


    Unfortunately, the library had pretty much the exact same books on magic. However there was one book that caught his eye:


    The book of necromancy


    Opening it, the book described how necromancy worked. It showed the different types of monsters that necromancy used and there were a lot of them; they ranged from the ordinary zombie to the fearless death knight to the majestic bone dragon. All were useful spells but forbidden in any kingdom.


    They were classed as heresy magic because they meddled with the dead. Many religions and people didn''t take kindly to people who used their loved ones for their own purposes.


    Apparently, necromancy worked by injecting mana into a corpse. Then, a contract is formed with the summoner having the lion''s share of the bargain. Then, the zombie could be put into an ''Ethereal'' state where it could be recalled or summoned at any time.


    The bad side is that the necromancer had to be stronger than the thing they were summoning. Many a young mage summoned a ghoul or a death knight only to have them turn on their masters.


    ''This sounds like a great source of magic and power. But isn''t it banned? "What is it doing in this library?"


    "Because that book is a source of knowledge boy." Kira sharply glanced up. How long had that person been there and why hadn''t Kira noticed him?


    "Oh sorry to startle you. My name is Dean." In front of Kira stood a young man with blue hair. He stood a head taller than Kira. "Who are you?" He asked. He didn''t see him when he first came in the library.


    "Oh. Once again, sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am the librarian and welcome to my humble little library. Here, you can read anything that catches your fancy, even necromancer magic." He winked at Kira before continuing. "Now to answer your question, the reason why this book still exists is because no-one knew it exists!" He smiled. "Until you came."


    "Uh-huh. I have a question. Are you able to read my mind?"


    "Nope. Your body language showed you were in a state of confusion so I said the same thing my master told me when I first read the book." Kira raised an eyebrow. "And yes I am a necromancer. But that book is useless to you as you haven''t awakened your mana perceptio-" he shut up when Kira set fire to his hands. "Okay.. I was wrong. The book isn''t so useless now..." He suddenly became quiet. He suddenly grinned and faced Kira. He suddenly asked


    "How would you like to be a necromancer?"


    Kira looked at him incredulously. "I thought that you can only get your second class when you''re level 20. I am only level 15." Dean smirked.


    "There are exceptions to this; if you meet the perquisites you can gain a class at any level.   Besides, if you were one of those God-fearing nutters that would try to burn the book, I would have killed you." He looked completely serious.


    *Ding* You have the option of gaining hidden class: Necromancer! If you choose to be a Necromancer, you cannot change it in the future!


    "Yes." Kira answered without hesitation. He like the idea of having sudden back-up.


    *Ding* Congratulations on your second class! You have unlocked the spells: Revive undead. Summon undead. Ruin blade.


    Kira giggled like a child on Christmas morning  when he changed his class. The first two skills were pretty obvious but the last one caught his attention. "Show skill Ruin blade."


    Skill: Ruin blade.


    Necromancy damage is added to your weapon. If a person is scratched, it will slowly turn that person into a zombie, and only stopped by holy light. If used on monsters, its effect will only work on those ten levels higher than yours or below. Beware using it, for if you are identified as a necromancer, you will be branded a heretic.


    "Necromancy does not stop at those three skills. I only gave you the basic ones. There are ones such as a wall made out of skeletons forming a hand that protects you, or killing an entire town just by using a spell on their water supply. Have fun with necromancy." He grinned like a madman.


    ''Okay I better go. Not only do I have to test this out but this fucker is creeping me out. Normal sense doesn''t apply to this guy.'' Standing up, the guy waved as Kira left. "My, my. I have gifted necromancy to such an interesting person. Wonder how he will react when he realises that necromancy changes you personality slightly." He giggled and disappeared into the shadows of the library.


    Kira hurriedly walked out of the library and out of town. He walked into the forest. ''The bear should have respawned by now. Its a perfect first zombie.'' He came across it, but not in the way he expected; there were some people fighting the bear. He didn''t want to interrupt so he found a good tree and sat under the shade to watch the people fighting.


    There were five people in total. There were two people in robes and three warriors.  One of whom he recognized- it was Yuno. She was different from the scared helpless girl. Now she was apparently in charge of the party. She managed to give commands to the warriors.


    A guy with a shield charged in front of the bear, blocking its attack. Yuno and the other warrior flanked the beast and stabbed at it from the sides. They quickly retreated, for the bear brought its arms back. Yuno managed to dodge the blow but the other guy didn''t. He started bleeding from his arm, looking pale. His hand was not there, but 10 meters away. One of the people in the robes raised their staff and started chanting. A bright light brought the man''s arm back together. Now, the second person in robes had finished chanting, and a fireball flew at the bear. It covered the bear''s face, causing the bear to roar in pain. It patted itself, killing the fire.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ''Amusing. So this is how people in parties fight.''


    The people reformed; there in the front, two in the back. They looked nervous and the bear was incredibly pissed off. It stood up and the party retreated. "Need help?" Kira shouted from the side-lines. "Yeah but what is one person going to do?" Yuno answered without looking back. Kira walked up. "Hey Yuno." She looked at him and her eyes widened in surprise. Kira gathered mana in his hands, and created a spark, the mana turned into a spear and then Kira threw the lightning spear at the bear. The bear tried to dodge; it sensed the danger emanating from this one person. However, the lightning was too fast and the spear struck true. The bear convulsed, hairs sticking up, before falling on its face.


    The people behind Kira were shocked. Not only did this man fearlessly approach the bear, but he had killed it with one shot!


    "Been some time Yuno." He smiled


    "Less than three hours." She pouted. "So, mind introducing me to your friends?" She shook her head.


    She pointed at the shield warrior. "His name is Naotsugu. His class is shield warrior. He is level 11. This duel-swordsman is called Kirito." She gestured at the man beside her. "He is level 13. The wizard''s is level 10 and her name is Rias Gremory. The healer is called Sakura." She spread her arms dramatically. "We form the Debauchery tea party!"


    Kira whistled as he slowly clapped his hands. "Well my name is Kira. I am a magic swordsman and I am level 15. Pleased to meet you." Rias raised her hand.


    "How did you kill the bear with one shot? I mean, what kind of spell was that? You''re not a wizard so how did you have so much magic damage?"


    Kira tapped the side of his nose and winked. "Its my secret. Anyway, do you want the bear''s body or can I have it to myself?" Yuno glanced at her comrades. "You have it. We will wait for it to respawn and use this time to train." Kira smiled. "I see. Well then. What I am going to do is not for the faint hearted. Soo if you want to go, now is the time. I will skin it. You will see its bones and flesh being peeled. Blood will.." He stopped. The debauchery tea party had already left, squealing in fright and disgust. He faced the corpse.


    "Alright. Let''s do this."


    He placed his hand in the bear and pushed his mana into it. He then recited the spell to form a contract.


    "§Á §Ô§à§Ó§à§â§ð §ä§Ö§Ò§Ö, §ã§ä§Ñ§ß§î §Ú  §Þ§ß§Ö §ã§Ý§å§Ø§Ú!"


    The bear convulsed. Kira withdrew his hand and breathed out. This one summoning had drained his mana by over 80%. ''I need to practice until I spend less mana on this. Anyway, does the bear need to fight me or not?'' He stepped back a few paces, hand resting on the sheathed katana.


    The bear opened its eyes. Instead of the usual eyes full of life, they were empty eyes. The bear stood on all fours and faced Kira. He tensed, ready to draw if anything happened. The bear suddenly bent its head down, one paw raised. Kira breathed a sigh of relief. He uttered the spell to hide the bear.


    "§±§â§ñ§é§î §Þ§×§â§ä§Ó§í§ç."


    He didn''t want a giant, lumbering undead bear following around. A liquid suddenly surrounded the bear, but the bear remained completely calm and unmoving. It started sinking. After ten seconds the bear was completely swallowed up; nothing remained of it. Smiling, Kira mentally congratulated himself; first try at necromancy- successful!


    He returned to town. He ate some wolf meat and then logged off. He needed to eat in real life.


    John munched on his food. Sudden ringing interrupted his meal. "Hello Hajime. What are you calling me for?" Hajime sounded excited and it creeping John out. "Hey John so what is your name in Endless online?" John wrinkled his brows. "Kira. Why do you need to know?" Hajime stopped talking.


    "You serious?"


    "Yep."


    "So you mean to tell me you killed most of a guild?"


    "Yes. Wait. How do you know?"


    "HOLY SHIT MAN YOU ARE AWESOME. The internet has been going crazy because of the utter rape you dealed to those guys. Some ''victim'' recorded it and posted it on the internet."


    "Goddammit. I thought I killed them all. Is this going to be anything major, cause I don''t want to be in a guild."


    "Bruh. When you anally rape a guild, people would want you in their guild. They will resort to all sorts of methods. Apparently some of the latest guilds, INCLUDING BLOODOATH. They are hunting you man. You better get out of there, cause they are coming in the hundreds." Kira sighed


    "I don''t have enough mana to take on 60, let alone 100. Oh well. Thanks for the warning. I will log on back soon. But I''m worried about something. If I kill players, won''t it make me a chaotic player?"


    "Nah. If the person attacks you first then the system recognizes that they are the aggressor and you don''t get any infamy points."


    They talked for a bit more before Kira went to play.


    Kira stood up. His cloak was dusty so he patted it off. He looked around and decided to go to the exit. Since he wanted to remain hidden, he equipped the adventurer''s cloak and took off the mask of Hei, placing them in his inventory.


    As he walked through the main streets, he noticed that there were a lot of players. Some walked around in-groups whilst others were alone, but they all had one thing in common: They had guild marks.


    ''Thanks for the warning Hajime.'' He chuckled. ''I will repay it.''


    He walked out of the town and into the forest. He had been walking for around 10 minutes before a party of six suddenly surrounded him. Kira put his hand on his katana, ready to fight. The apparent leader raised her hands up.


    "Woah easy there fella. We aren''t going to hurt you unless you attack us first." They were less than ten meters away. "Unfortunately I am the paranoid type so please stop there."


    They stopped. "Could you answer a question please?" Before Kira even started to say ''no,'' the man still asked him. "Do you know of an individual called Kira? We would like to invite him to our guild: The Silver swords."


    "No I do not know know him. It was a pleasure to meet you but I have to go. Please can I go?"


    The leader smiled. "Y''know our guild is always on the lookout for talented people. Your bloodied cloak show you are quite experienced. How about it, wanna join our guild?"


    "No." With that one word, the tension in the air increased. Kira got ready to equip the mask of Hei, just in case. The leader continued smiling but this time the smile contained no joy.


    "Well then, it looks as though we have a problem."

 Chapter 13

    They stared at each other. It was six against one and Kira did not like the current situation. Before, the people who he fought with were complete amateurs, but at least two of the people in front of him knew how to handle a sword.


    The leader of them suddenly threw his hands up in the air. "Ah fuck this. We know your level but I don''t want to lose a level. So see ya."


    Even though he said those words, Kira remained on guard until they had disappeared from sight. He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around, and then set off. He didn''t like working with others and he certainly did not want to be someone''s underling. He started walking in the opposite direction.


    He had been walking in the woods for quite some time now. He was incredibly deep in the forest. Here, players much higher leveled had died here. The trees here were much closer together than before, blocking out most of the sunlight giving a creepy atmosphere. Unbeknownst to Kira, he had entered the Forest of Sorrow, it was one of the first dungeons that had been discovered, but it was by far the deadliest. It had monsters such as treants, goblins, ogres and...


    Kira stopped. There was something in the trees nearby. He looked at the source and it stepped out of the shadows. It was a monkey? Its level was 20. It looked like standard monkey but instead of nails it had claws on its fingers. Blood thirst emanated from it.


    With a screech, it jumped straight at Kira. ''Shit! Its so fast!'' He barely dodged the monkey''s lunge. He tried to cleave the head off, but the monkey was too fast and scurried back onto the trees. It disappeared. Clearly the trees were its haven, and it gained extra speed in the bunched up trees. ''I can''t use my shikai,'' he analysed the situation ''There''s not enough room to swing the blades.'' He remained in the middle of the circle of trees, vigilant against attacks.


    Once again, the monkey screeched and attacked from straight above. Kira tried to dodge, but he was a millisecond too late and received a cut across his arm. Luckily it was the outside of the arm and the monkey''s claws didn''t hit any major arteries. Grunting in pain, Kira swiped. Thankfully it hit and the monkey''s tail fell off. Shrieking in pain, the monkey scampered to face Kira.


    "I think its fair. You tired to kill me, isn''t it fair I do the same to you?" The monkey snarled in reply.


    The monkey was clearly faster than him. Not by much, but it was still evident. He started to fire off lightning spears but the monkey dodged them all.


    ''Shit. I have only have enough mana for one more spear! I have to use this mana carefully... Wait a minute.'' He remembered the spell he still hadn''t used. Grinning, he ran at the monkey. He didn''t need to run needlessly; the monkey also ran at him. Kira swiped his sword. The money also swiped. They ran past each other. They stopped ten meters apart.


    Kira suddenly collapsed. His sides had been shredded by the monkey. ''I''m pretty sure that real monkeys don''t have claws.'' He saw a shadow fall on him. It was the monkey. All it had received was a scratch. It raised its hand.


    Suddenly, it stopped. A look of horror dawned on its face. "Oh you''re feeling it now, aren''t you?" He chuckled but coughed up blood. "My ruin blade."


    The monkey dropped to the ground. It started frothing at its mouth; twitching in pain. Its eyes rolled to the back of its head from the pain. Closing its eyes, it died.


    *Ding* Congratulations! You are now level 16! Please assign your attribute points. Stat points available: 6


    Because he leveled up, Kira''s wounds automatically healed. A second before, he was bleeding out bleeding out and now he looked as though he was not in a fight at all.


    The monkey''s eyes snapped open. It stood and bowed in front of Kira. "I have to hide you now." Kira muttered the spell to hide the zombified monkey and it disappeared like the bear.


    "Please put three into agility, three into strength. Son of a bitch that hurt." He groaned. "Almost lost a level just now. I want to be stronger!"


    ''Its getting dark. I better set up camp. He looked around to see of there were any suitable trees. Selecting one, he used his sword to make some fire wood. He then broke some smaller branches and place them in a rectangle formation. Using the bear''s cloak, he made a makeshift tent.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.He lit the fire, impaled some wolf meat on a stick and began roasting it. ''This is the life.'' After eating and putting the campfire out, he went to sleep.


    Weirdly, the way that sleeping worked in Endless online was exactly like sleeping in real-life. He slept for the night and woke up, only logging off to brush his teeth, eat breakfast and do his early morning routine of press ups, sit ups and running.


    He logged back on. He cleared the camp and sat around the fire. He knew that if he went forward, the monsters beyond would be out his league and most likely kill him before he managed to see them. He needed to improve his stats. He went to hunt new prey.


    He found it. Or rather, them. They were in a group of 12 and, contrary to popular belief, the goblins in this game were actually skilled. Many a player had fallen by their hands.


    Kira fired off a fireball, but the goblins dodged. They turned to face Kira, their faces turning into one of confidence; only one opponent. ''This should be easy.'' They thought. Two of the group held staffs. ''Goblin mages.'' Kira observed. The goblins went into formation: The two mages with two swordsmen at the back, with the other eight charging at Kira.


    They were slow, but strong. Kira parried, but he was forced back. He had to disengage to parry another sword coming from the side. ''Good thing they''re so slow. They can''t attack me from everywhere. If they were faster, they would be a massive problem. Kira made lightning dance on his sword and swung it at the nearest goblin


    It parried but the electricity fired the goblin. It dropped the sword and feel down dead. Kira once again supplied electricity to his sword and moved onto the next goblin.


    He killed another goblin before the goblins reacted. Two fireballs the size of basketballs flew at Kira. He used the corpse of a goblin and threw it at a fireball. The fireball hit the goblin, roasting the flesh. However, the second fireball dodged, hitting a tree. Burnt flesh tainted Kira''s nose. He grinned. Only ten left. ''Those mages need to be killed first.'' "Lightning spear." He threw it at both the mages, only to have the two warrior vanguards try and use their bodies at meat shields.


    "That ain''t gonna work." He said as the electricity fried the four goblins. ''Only six left. Better finish this off quickly or I might have any mana soon.'' He infused lightning into the sword and killed three goblins before running out of mana. The last goblin grinned, thinking it was his victory. Oh how wrong it was.


    It swung downward and Kira didn''t bother parrying. He ran behind it. Pointing his sword to face the goblin''s back, Kira suddenly had an idea.


    "ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!" He shouted as his sword impaled the goblin through its rear end. Kira could see the tip of his sword in the goblin''s mouth. It started choking on the thing in its mouth. Frothing, it tried to claw the sword but soon lost its strength, finally succumbing to blood loss, internal bleeding, and having a meter long katana shoved up its ass.


    ''Urgh. Last time I''m doing this to a goblin.'' Withdrawing his sword, he he swung it in a downward arc, cleaning the blood off it before sheathing it.


    "Bro that was epic, disgusting, but still epic!" A voice made Kira glance up. It was a lone swordsman. No, wait. There was also another person''s presence in them trees. It was slight but it was there. He glanced at the presence and he heard snickering. "Haha Ryan he noticed you! So much for being the ultimate ninja!" The man on the ground laughed. "Oh shut up. You have difficulty sensing me." Another person clad in black jumped out of the tree.


    Kira observed these NPCs with curiosity. He had heard of NPC adventurers but this was the first time he had seen them in the flesh. He raised a hand and asked tentatively "Uhh may I ask who you are?" He couldn''t see their level so they must be pretty high leveled.


    "Alright. I am Dylan and this failed ninja here is Ryan." The swordsman pointed to himself and the other guy. He continued "I am a level 40 samurai/ brawler and he is also level 40. His two classes are ninja and tamer." He looked at Kira with pride and almost shouted "Our party is called Absolute duo!"


    ''They''re a pair of weirdos.'' Kira thought. "Nice to meet you. I am called Kira, level 16 and magical swordsman."


    Ryan nodded and then asked Kira "Hey did you want to rest at our house? I can tell you''re tired and if you want a bed we can supply one to you." Kira frowned; they weren''t trying to con him were they? Ryan caught the frown and hurriedly told him " Nononono, we aren''t trying to cheat you. The bed is free but our payment system is a bit strange. You have to fight us and let us see if you can impress us." He then threw his arms up in the air. "Or that is how its supposed to go, until my friend over here saw you impale the goblin and was completely convinced that you are awesome."


    "Aww  come on man, its not everyday you someone killing a goblin by thrusting a sword up its anus! You have to be completely badass to do that! Oh well. Anyway, follow us." He beckoned Kira to follow him. "Our inn isn''t that far away."


    With some hesitation, Kira followed.

 Chapter 14

    Apparently the ''Absolute duo'' was well off. Their inn was in the middle of the dungeon, yet a high class barrier prevented monsters from entering. Thus, the place was not in pieces.


    They were also well-known and many people visited them. When Kira arrived, the place was bustling with life. There were all NPCs, but powerful ones at that. "Level 30s, 40s as well as the odd level 50 are here. You''re the lowest level there, but that is to be expected." Ryan explained.


    "Oi, Dylan, what''s a level 16 doing here?" A tall man who was level 38 shouted at the three. "Hey Kakashi. The reason why he''s here is because we saw him fight a goblin pack."


    "Yeah. So?" Kakashi wasn''t impressed.


    "He finished off a goblin by using ''One thousand years of pain'' with a sword." Kakashi''s eyes widened at the new information. "Holy shit dude! I once did that as well. It ain''t pretty." He then turn to read his book. ''Wait. Is that a 50 shades of grey?'' Kira looked at Kakashi, whose cheeks had turned red.


    "Ignore that pervert, come on Kira, I will show you to your room."


    Kira''s room was apparently the standard of the Absolute duo hotel, with a single bed in a 4x4 room including a bathroom. Saying his goodbyes to Ryan, Kira let his avatar sleep and logged off.


    John did his usual workout and the day ended quickly. However, before going to bed, John went on the internet to see who posted the video about him.


    He checked online and many people were frantically asking the poster where the player was, what spell he was using, his level and so forth. However, the only things they knew about Kira was his level and his name. He then checked the forum. Many people wanted Kira to join their guilds or become friends; They left messages and shout-outs online. ''What idiots. I did tell the guild on the video that I didn''t want to be in a guild. If they start crowding me, I will kill them.'' Then he noticed some who obviously noticed the quite obvious threat that the masked Kira had made.


    Those types of people were observant and a lot of the time dangerous. One user, instead of asking about Kira, analysed his spells. ''That one''s dangerous.''


    Getting off the computer, Kira went to sleep.


    The next day, Kira woke up early; He wanted to train. He logged back on and was greeted by the ceiling of the inn.


    He finished off the last of his wolf meat and went outside. He saw Kakashi on the way out, still reading his book. Out of nowhere, Ryan appeared. "Hey. Kira. Let''s fight. If you impress me, I will give you enough food supplies to last 50 days." Kira''s eyes lit up; FREE FOOD! "Let''s go!" He shouted enthusiastically.


    They went outside. Some of the other adventurers had heard of the fight and came to watch. They went into the middle of a nearby field. Ryan threw some red rock and shouted out "Battle Barrier." A red-tinged force field burst out of the rock, covering a diameter of 100 meters. Ryan explained. "This thing is called a battle barrier. It nullifies physical attacks and turns the damage into mental stress. Instead of dying, you faint."  Kira looked around; this was the first time he had heard of such a thing.


    "Are you ready?" Ryan asked Kira. Nodding, he drew his katana. Ryan, on the other hand, drew a wakizashi, which was more of a short katana than anything else. It was easy to hide. It was essentially "a ninja''s weapon." Kira looked at his opponent; Ryan looked him straight in the eye. They charged.


    Kira somersaulting into the air and then slashed down. Ryan coolly observed and blocked using his weapon. He then went to kick Kira in the face but Found that it missed; Kira ducked underneath his leg and tried to stab Ryan. Ryan some how somersaulted over the blade, doing a kick to the back of Kira''s head.


    Kira felt his conscious fade, but he bit his tongue until he didn''t feel hazy. He stood up and looked at Ryan, who was standing ten meters away. "You''re tougher than I thought." Kira snorted. "Oh please, you''re barely even trying." Without a word more, Kira formed a fireball. Ryan widened his eyes slightly, but didn''t say anything, even when the fireball flew towards him. He just dodged, ducking under the fireball and running straight towards Kira. He suddenly accelerated.


    ''Oh shit!'' Kira thought, jumping to the side, just avoiding the blade. He tried a different route and threw a lightning bolt at Ryan; the reason as to why he didn''t throw a spear is because he needed to conserve his mana for the time being. However, that tactic didn''t work: Ryan merely stepped to the side as the bolt whizzed by.


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    "Congratulations. You are better than your average level 16, heck even better than a level 19. You''ve already gotten the supplies, but I want to see how far I can push you. So let''s keep fighting and maybe I will throw in an extra present." Kira''s eyes gleamed. Wanting that extra present, he discarded all of his restraints. He activated his shikai.


    "Reap, heaven''s wheel."


    His shikai, the double bladed staff, caused many of the onlookers to point and shout. Even Ryan frantically asked "How the FUCK did you get that?!"


    "This dude named Master Roshi told me how to unlock it. Why, is it truly that rare?" Ryan facepalmed.


    "You need years of training to unlock your shikai! You did in an afternoon? That is not just impressive, that is never-heard-of-before genius."


    "Oh" was Kira''s only reply.


    "Let me guess... You only had for what, a week at most. Let me show you a shikai that has been cultured for years!" Ryan then held the sword to his left arm and said


    "Boost, Red dragon."


    His sword started to shine, enveloping his arm. Once the light had disappeared, in place of his wakizashi was a red gauntlet that covered his hand and his upper arm. Kira''s eyes widened in surprise.


    "I have one for my second wakizashi as well called the white dragon but that''s for later. Anyway, shall we continue?" Not saying a word, Kira ran towards his still-standing opponent.


    CLANG


    A dry, metallic sound resounded when their weapons made contact. Spinning his lower half of the weapon upward, Kira found it unexpectedly blocked.


    "Ha. That might work on untrained people,  but not on me." He stopped speaking after Kira resumed his attacks, not wanting to be distracted.


    A chorus of shouts and cheers came from outside the barrier. The other adventurers had been raising such a ruckus that even Dylan came out, wanting to see the show. He looked on, cheering the fight on.


    CLANG


    This sort of sound resonated multiple times as Kira tried to hit Ryan, only to have Ryan block every single one. "You tired yet?" Ryan taunted. "Not yet. I''ve got one more trick left." Ryan stepped away, confused. In response, Kira stabbed the ground with his blade.


    "Scatter and fall, Amaterasu!"


    Black smoke started coiling from the ground, surrounding Ryan. The victim looked around, wary of the smoke. The smoke thickened, covering a diameter of two meters. ''Its over.'' Kira thought.


    Suddenly he noticed a white light shining in the middle of the smoke. It sucked in the black smoke. "What the hell?"


    It was Ryan''s other shikai, the white dragon. It kept shouting "DIVIDEDIVIDEDIVIDEDIVIDE" as the smoke coiled around it.


    Once all of the smoke had been sucked in, Kira finally noticed what had countered him: A white gauntlet. Ryan clapped; his gauntlets making an unpleasant sound


    "Well done. To make me use both of my wakizashis, show how good you are. Alright. You get that present."


    The red barrier contracted, finally making the sky blue again. People came over, shouting their support at the match; cheering at the two duellists.


    Dylan came over. "Well done man, to make Ryan use both of his weapons... Awesome. Hey Ryan, you pushed into a corner by someone who is 20 levels lover than you. How did you feel?"


    "Shut up... But indeed, your weapon''s shikai is impressive. Let''s go, I have to keep my word."


    They went inside amidst cheers.

 Chapter 15

    He got his 50 days worth of food supplies. The present that Ryan had promised was actually 20 extra food supplies: All of the food was meat and vegetables. The only problem was that "they all have sell-by date. They ruin quickly." Kira complained.


    "Not at all, young man." A voice said behind him. Kira turned around and there was a young woman with brown hair. She held a wine bottle in one hand and she wore revealing attire... Having  strong willpower was one of Kira''s greatest powers, but even he struggled to keep eye-contact.


    "Hi I''m Cana. I am Dylan''s wife, sorry for not introducing myself earlier. Anyway. When you put food, pelts or anything else for that matter into your inventory, they never spoil or anything, so your 70 days worth of food supplies will last you 70 days."


    "Oh, ok. Thanks for explaining." He turned to leave. " Oh yeah. Kira." He stopped at the mention at his name. "That was a nice fight."


    Nodding his appreciation, Kira left the inn. He marched straight into of the forest; little did he know, he was walking straight back to town...


    "Oi Kira!" He heard Dylan''s voice. "Where are you going?"


    "Me... I''m going to train... Bears are too easy. I would like to fight something like the monkey or the goblins and whatnot." Dylan nodded.


    "You do realise that you''re going back the way you came, right?" Silence ensured.... "No, I didn''t" Kira replied, embarrassed. "So are you one of those ''players'' that ''respawn'' n''shit?" Kit nodded his confirmation. "You want to get to town quickly, right? Once again, Kira nodded. "Wh-" Dylan flashed in front of him; suddenly everything went black, except for one line.


    You have died! You cannot log in for 24 hours!


    ''Son of a bitch'' John logged off, although he could see Dylan''s logic, but "I lost a level, dammit!" Now he was back to level 15... ''Nothing I can do about it for now...''


    It was the weekend so he had nothing to do, not even homework; so all he could do was train or sleep until he could log back on. He did just that.


    24 hours finally passed, and John could log back onto Endless online. ''Its been three days now, let''s hope that the ''let''s-get-Kira-to-join-our-guild'' craze has passed.


    Kira opened his eyes, and in front of him was the usual altar of resurrection. Equipping the mask of Hei, Kira walked out of the temple.


    Kit marched straight outside the city and into the forest, not paying attention to the prying eyes on his fur coat, or his mask. But as soon as he stepped outside the city, Kira was mobbed; not by  monsters, but by players.


    "Please join our guild, The black sheep knights!"


    "No no no, don''t listen to them, join us, join Lamia scale."


    Kira had enough of this shit.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "ENOUGH!" He roared silencing everyone. "I do not want to be in a guild, or party for that matter. If anyone tries to force me, I will kill them!" He then tried to avoid the crowd, but one level 20 got cocky and tried to attack him.


    CLANG


    The sound of metal-on-metal resounded as Kira blocked the guy''s sword. Whilst they were in stalemate, Kira stepped back, making the guy lose balance and then beheading him. The player''s body turned into light and vanished. If it wasn''t for the blood splattered on the ground, people wouldn''t have thought that there had been a fight.


    The crowd was shocked. A level 20 had lost so easily; that was the true power of Kira! Kira glared at the crowd, waiting for anymore attacks. None came. He then turned and walked away.


    As Kira walked away, several of the guilds had sent players with hiding skills to stalk Kira. However, it wasn''t long before Kira found them out; a shadow darting in the corner of Kira''s vision, the "Argh" as too rogues met each other and fought. He ignored them though; he didn''t plan on showing them any of the skills he had learnt, or the Absolute duo inn.


    Some time later, Kira came across a bear. However, he tried to kill the bear quickly but didn''t want to reveal any of his spells. Instead, he attack using his katana. The bear tried to intimidate him; it immediately stood up on its hind legs. The rogues leaned in, eager to see how a player who took down 38 people by himself fought monsters; they were already recording, and Kira didn''t disappoint.


    Running behind his prey, Kira sliced through the tendons at the ankle, forcing the bar onto its knees. He then stabbed through the kneecaps, ignoring the bear''s roars of pain and anger.


    As the bear swiped at his head, Kira ducked underneath and lunged at the bear''s throat. Piercing the hide, Mira watched in satisfaction as blood sprayed on his face. He withdrew the blade just in time to avoid a second swipe of a paw. The bear roared in anger. Kira nearly grinned.


    ??? POV


    I had been tasked with spying on this guy, Kira. My guild had been interested in him ever since that video was released on the internet. I had seen it myself and I was shocked: What level 14 player has those spells to kill that amount of people in such a short amount of time?! Anyway, I was tasked to stalk him until he logged off, and although I wasn''t too thrilled at following a mass-murderer, but I was curious about how he fought.


    When we came across the bear, I was brimming in anticipation for his magnificent spells; I wanted to see more of his arsenal of magic. What I found was a brutal one sided slaughter. He had stabbed a bear through its knees, its tendons and its throat, covered in blood but cackling like a maniac. The bear swiped left and right, but instead of hitting Kira, all it got for its trouble were stab wounds in its feet! ''This guy is a monster; completely merciless!


    Back to normal POV


    In the end, the bear was totally powerless. It was losing blood; it had stab wounds in its throat and body; it was clearly going to die. It couldn''t even stand. Kira fearlessly walked up to it and plunged the tip of katana into the bear''s head, silencing its roars of anguish. Blood dripped from his katana into the ground. He swiped in a downwards motion, cleaning his weapon of blood.


    Not wasting any time, Kira sheathed his katana and took out his skinning knife. He didn''t need a second bear coat, but all he wanted to do was scare the players following him. Stabbing into the warm corpse, he went to work.


    After an hour, Kira had finally finished working on the corpse. Some of the people had gone away, sick to their stomachs because of what the had witnessed. However, some had stayed, still recording. Kira turned to face the trees, covered in blood. He spread out his hands.


    "SEE!" He shouted "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH ME! I DO NOT WANT ANYONE''S COMPANY, SO LEAVE ME ALONE, OR I WILL DO THIS TO YOU!"


    Terrified, the rouges fled.

 Chapter 16

    Smiling to himself as the stalkers fled, Kira looked at his notifications. Turns out, he had leveled back up to level 16, as well as having his sword mastery increase from intermediate 1 straight to 3!


    "Assign two stats to strength, two to mana capacity and two to agility." Pleased with himself, Kira went to fight the monkey.


    However, instead of the monkey, he found a different monster: A treant. The giant, overgrown tree with monstrous roots attacked Kira. It roared as it thrust its roots at Kira.


    Kira dodged the first batch of roots, then deflected another branch headed towards him.


    ''Wood is weak against fire.'' Kira noted. He threw a fireball, igniting on a branch. He threw another. And another. Soon the entire treant was on fire.


    Even though it was on fire, no sound came from its mouth. It suddenly fell down, dead. "TIMBER." Kira shouted; He just wanted to as that was what you did when a tree was falling...


    The treant burned, but thankfully the fire quickly went out. He didn''t want to cause a forest fire; the real world had enough of those!


    He looked around the fallen treant for loot and found some coins that he pocketed. Now, he had over 300 copper coins! He would need to convert them into silvers later.


    He walked away from the fight site. He noticed he was being watched. It was something small and fast. The sound was getting closer. Kira went into the open and drew his katana. "Who''s there?" He asked the trees.


    It stepped out. Kira was startled. It was a orange ''blob.'' That was the best way to describe it. It had some teeth, no feet and a one giant horn protruding from its body.


    "What the fuck is that?!" Kit asked in surprise. "I am Tsunomon ." The blob suddenly spoke. ''OK. This thing is creepy... I should get out of here.'' He ran.


    "No wait I''m your..." Kira didn''t hear the next part; he was too far away.


    Kira glanced up. Something was heading straight for his face from above. Dodging  to the right, he glanced at the object. It was a throwing knife.


    "Is that how you greet people? Come out Ryan."


    "How did you know? It could have been some bandits." Ryan dropped from above.


    "Please. It has your signature on it. The two dragons. Ones white ones red. You think I wouldn''t guess?"


    Laughing in response, Kira shook hands with Ryan. "So how''s the inn?" He asked.


    "Not bad. I can see you''re fine as well."


    They talked for a bit before departing. Ryan had a job to do that involved destroying some book made by a supposedly famous author.


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    Meanwhile, John logged off. He got ready to go to school.


    At school, Hajime immediately pounced on John, repeatedly asking questions about how he played.


    "Bro you were brutal in the last episode. Some people fainted and I almost vomited. How did you not get sick?" John shrugged


    "Its cause I''ve done it in real life and its not the first time I''ve done it in-game."Hajime paled at what he heard. He changed the subject.


    "So what''s your new pet?"


    "What pet?"


    "There were some players telling the company of Endless online that they wanted a pet system introduced, so the game developers created allowed players to gain one free pet. I, for example, got a yellow rat!"


    John shrugged his shoulders. "I am not in a city right now, so I don''t think I can get it now.... Unless..." He suddenly realized; that pink blob that had appeared, that was his pet! ''I gotta make sure that it is my pet.''


    "So how does the system work. I mean, can you have more than one pet?" John asked Hajime.


    "Yes, but that creates the class tamer. A lot of people don''t want more than one pet so yeah. Once you gain a pet, it is with you for life. There is one difference. The first pet, is also the greatest. The first pet can be revived, but the later ones... Once they die, they truly die."


    "Oh shit. Alright. But won''t some pets be stronger than others? Wouldn''t that be unfair?"


    "At the start, they are all equal. Your pet eats parts of a monster''s corpse after they die to gain exp. If a pet eats strong monster meat, then the pet gets stronger. If it eats weak monster meat, then the pet gets stronger but far more slowly. Some pets are support type. Others, assault or defense. It all depends on a player''s play style."


    They finished school and went home. Hajime wanted to level up his ''electric'' rat, whilst John wanted to actually find his pet.


    Logging back on, Kira fortunately found himself in a one piece in a clearing. Unfortunately, there was a pack of eight goblins surrounding him. ''Oh shit.'' Scrambling up, Kira drew his katana. He tried to kill his opponent  by electricity but it didn''t work! He glanced at the goblin- it was wearing gloves! ''Cunning, but not cunning enough!'' He jumped into the air. Surveying the goblins, he threw eight fireballs at them. Out the eight, only three managed to duck underneath the fireball.


    Kira beheaded one goblin. He stabbed a second, killing both. The final one had managed to stand up. Gripping its sword, it went into a position to lunge, but was distracted by... Bubbles?


    Snarling with annoyance, the goblin faced the source of its annoyance. Bad move. In a second, its head had already kissed the ground.


    Kira looked at what had distracted the dead goblin. It was Tsunomon!


    "Are you my pet?" Kira asked incredulously. It nodded, or tried to. "I finally found you!" It cried with joy. It leaped into Kira''s arms.


    ''Woah, he''s lighter than he looks.'' He looked at his pet and Tsunomon looked back at him.


    "Alright then Tsunomon, let''s go on an adventure!"


    "Yes!"


    (Hello. It''s me, the author. So here I was writing chapter 17, and I thought to myself. You know what my story hasn''t had in a while? Brutal deaths. so I went and wrote quite a descriptive one. Sooooo, you''re warned and be prepared... See ya.)

 Chapter 17

    They entered deeper into the forest. Kira was looking for the monkey, whilst his newfound pet hopped alongside him.


    "The way we''re going to fight is by having you distract our opponent, and then I finish them off. Then you can eat their cores. Do you like that idea?"


    "Yes. I am a bit weak right now. I can evolve but only after I have eaten quite a lot of cores." Tsunomon replied.


    They finally arrived at the place where the monkey spawned. Kira unsheathed his sword and went into the clearing. With a screech, it arrived. Glancing at the source of the sound, Kira set fire to his katana. Kira rolled to the side.


    The monkey landed on the place where Kira stood moments before. He lunged at the monkey, hoping to pierce it and end it quickly.


    Unfortunately, the monkey was fast and managed to jump out of the way. It balanced itself and snarled at Kira. "NOW TSUNOMON!" Bubbles started assaulting the monkey. It was a nuisance and a distraction, but it did its job.


    The monkey faced its aggressor, taking its eyes off Kira. Kira ran at his prey. He swiped, setting the monkey on fire. It convulsed and fell down.


    ''That''s not supposed to happen. Fire doesn''t make you die of electricity.'' Kira then realised; it was the special effect of the mask of Hei! ''Finally it activated.''


    He went up to the monkey and picked up the drops: It was only one silver and a magic core. He gave the core to Tsunomon, who immediately gobbled it up.


    His mouth stretched to impossible proportions and he swallowed the core. He started to shine and his entire body started to expand.  Kira squinted his eyes. The light was so bright! However, it quickly dissipated. There, standing in place of Tsunomon, was something else.


    The majority of its body was yellow, but some of it was covered with blue and grey fur. It had a single yellow horn on its forehead. It had some weird design on its chest.


    Kira was startled. Was this Tsunomon''s form when he evolves?


    *Ding* Congratulations! Tsunomon has evolved into Gabumon!


    "Hello Kira! I evolved!" Tsunomon, no, Gabumon excitedly told Kira. "I didn''t know that you would evolve so quickly. I thought you needed much more of those cores to level up. What happened?"


    "Its because you and I killed something that was 19 levels higher than me. I was born level one, and when I ate the monster''s core, I immediately leveled up 7 levels!" Smiling at his evolved pet and companion, Kira sheathed his katana. "Well done." He praised Gabumon and patted his head.


    A sound made them both glance up. It was a goblin. However, this one was two meters tall, wearing a metal crown on its head. A chest plate covered its body. It wore shin guards and gloves and in its hands was a giant wooden club.


    Goblin king. Level 30


    ''Well shit.'' Kira threw a lightning spear, hoping to end it quickly, but the goblin king blocked the spell with the wooden club. "Sonofa... Gabumon, distract him. I will attack from behind. Let''s go!"


    Gabumon turned to face the goblin king.


    "BLUE BLASTER"


    Blue flames shot out of Gabumon''s mouth. They were quick, and covered the wooden club. Kira, meanwhile, wasn''t idle either. He ran towards the king, and set fire to his sword.


    The goblin king roared, smashing down the club onto Kira. He rolled to the side, the club barely missing him. He scrambled up.


    The goblin king swiped with its left arm. Kira slide underneath it, slicing the knees as he went past. The goblin roared in pain, but got burned with another wave of blue flame.


    It faced Gabumon, taking its eyes away from Kira. Gabumon turned and ran, fearing for its life. He sheathed his sword.


    "You shouldn''t take your eyes away from me. For that,"  he jumped onto the head of the king. He started  to apply a choke using his legs "I''ll be taking your eyes."


    He savagely plunged his fingers into the eye sockets, grabbing the eyes. The goblin king tried to get Kira off, but it was weakening because of the choke. It snarled in pain, tears already flowing. Kira smiled...


    He crushed the eyes. The goblin king roared louder. His hands slick with blood, Kira jumped off; the flames were getting a bit too close.


    He drew his sword. The goblin was frantically swinging the club at the air, hoping to hit the enemies that had brought him to such a sad state.


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    Kira stabbed through a knee.


    The goblin roared in pain. It knelt, still swinging at the enemy that was not there.


    Kira pierced its left arm, cutting the biceps and triceps.


    It swung again, hitting empty air.


    Kira used his sword to impale the goblin''s back. He twisted his katana and withdrew his sword. He plunged his left arm into the body, gripping something solid and pulling it out. Blood sprayed onto him but he ignored it. ''This sure looks important'' Kira thought to himself, noticing what he had in his hands.


    The goblin tried to twist his midriff, but couldn''t. It had lost its lower spine. Its legs collapsed due to its inability to stand. It could only cry in pain. Kira threw the spine on the ground. It made a sick, wet sound as it landed.


    Kira looked at his handiwork; a level 30 goblin king lying on the ground. Its eyes were crushed, its left arm disabled and its lower spine ripped out.


    ''It isn''t enough...'' He thought. He looked at the pitiful goblin king. It was lying on its back, struggling to breathe. ''Tenacious bastard. Let''s see if you live after this...''


    His stabbed downward at its stomach; enough to pierce it, but not enough force to cut entirely through. He then swing in a circle, removing the flesh. The intestines glistened in the sunlight.


    He sheathed his sword. Approaching the fallen king, he plunged both of his hands into the stomach. The goblin tried to scream; it knew what Kira was going to do, but all it could do was cough up blood. The intestines were slippery under Kira''s hands, but he still managed to grip them.


    Kira pulled.


    Intestines met fresh air; blood sprayed everywhere. Yet all Kira did was smile. The goblin king coughed up blood once more, then died, free of its misery.


    *Ding* Congratulations! You have leveled up two levels! Please assign stat points. Stat points available: 16


    *Ding* Congratulations! New title earned: Goblin king killer. Give you +5% more exp when fighting goblins!


    "Assign two to every stat." Kira glanced at Gabumon. It was shivering behind a tree. "Hey its okay now. The goblin king is dead."


    It peaked from the tree, unsure. It jumped with joy seeing the spectacle. It ran towards Kira and hugged him.


    "Sorry I was so scared I ran" Gabumon cried in his arms. "Its okay. I took care of it and you''re safe. That''s all that matters. Now, let''s see what we receive from the drops." Nodding happily, Gabumon ran up to the corpse. He excitedly looked around before finding it and eating it. It leveled up to 12! Kira looked at the corpse, searching for something useful.


    He found it. Apart from the 20 silvers on the ground, he also found a book lying on the ground.


    It had a purple cover with lightening bolts around it. Kira picked it up. It was a skill book.


    He had read about them online. They were actually quite rare, in fact only boss level monsters dropped them. They allowed the user to instantly learn the skill simply by opening the book. Only a fool would leave it alone.


    Kira walked up and opened the cover.


    *Ding* Congratulations on finding this skill book. You have the option of learning skill: Chidori. Do you want to learn this skill?


    ''What kind of question was that?!?!''


    "Yes please."


    *Ding* You have learnt skill: Chidori


    Skill description: Continuous skill. Once you activate this skill, electricity will coat your hand, allowing you do deal electric damage to your opponent bare-handed. Allows for pierce attacks, but it can never cause ''bleeding'' status. Uses 30 mana a second.


    ''Holy shit. That mana drain is extreme!'' Kira thought. He turn to Gabumon.


    "Hey, Gabumon. Let''s find some opponents, I want to try a new skill on them." Nodding, Gabumon followed Kira into the trees.

 Chapter 18

    They soon came across a pack of eight goblins, but with the teamwork of Kira and Gabunon, they were quickly finished. Gabumon leveled up once more, bringing his level up to 13.


    Kira pulled out his hand from a goblin''s body. This was the aftermath of a chidori. There was no blood, as the skill cauterised the wound, but it didn''t matter; If a living being as a massive hole through their chest then they would most likely die.


    He checked his mana. Only 40 left, barely enough for a second of a chidori. ''Oh well. That worked out quite nicely.'' He looked around, making sure it was safe, and logged off.


    It was a normal day at school, apart from one thing. John was walking back home when suddenly a wild  Lucy appeared!


    "Hey John, or should I call you Kira?" She teased. "So you saw the video, huh?" She nodded. "It was amazing how you scared them off like that. A normal person would have been hounded by them until they revealed all of their secrets!" She smiled. "By the way John, where are you? I created my own character who looks like me but has a different name, so I want to friend you. Can you find me?"


    He glanced at Lucy. She was looking at Kira with puppy eyes, long hazelnut hair falling over her ears. ''She looks kinda cute...'' He thought.


    "Sure. I am going to visit Magnolia soon. I heard there were awesome monsters to fight. But first things first; what is your name in Endless online."


    She smiled and tapped a finger on the side of her nose. "That''s a secret." She stuck out a tongue. "See you later John!" She shouted as they separated.


    Once Kira had finally logged on, he immediately checked on Gabumon''s whereabouts. He was right next to Kira, sleeping. Kira looked around. The goblin king''s mutilated corpse was till there, with crows feasting on it. "Hello master." Gabumon awoke. "Hello there. I''ve got a friend to meet so we have to go back to town to get a map. Let''s go!" They both got up and went along their merry way.


    They were almost in sight of the town before Kira noticed: He was covered in blood. Any guard would be suspicious of a person who walks into their town dyed red from blood. So, Kira took off his first bear cloak and equipped his second. ''Now I look more presentable.''


    "Let''s go." He said to Gabumon. They approached the gates, and, as soon as Gabumon crossed them, he shrunk such a small size, he could comfortably sit on Kira''s shoulder. He did just that.


    "Dafuq just happened? You shrunk!"


    "It''s because we''re in a city. Not all pets are small and cuddly so a spell shrinks them." Gabumon explained as though it was nothing. They carried on.


    They arrived at the adventurer''s guild without any trouble; no-one was asking Kira to join their guild nor did anyone try to kidnap him.


    Opening the doors, he walked straight up to Yukino. "Hey Yukino, do you know where I can get a map to get to Magnolia?"


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Yeah. You have to buy and it costs ten silvers.  Do want one?" Kira nodded, and she opened a cupboard. She withdrew an A1 piece of paper and gave it to Kira. In return, he gave her 10 silvers. Thanking her and saying his goodbyes, Kira left the guild.


    Outside, he looked at his available money; it was over all 25 silvers. ''I''ll buy provisions with this.''


    He went around the town; buying food, water and  an additional weapon. Throwing knives. They were reusable and durable. The downside was that he had to spend 20 silvers for 40 of them. ''They better be worth it.'' Kira thought. He had used them in real life and new a good throw could easily take out a target more easily than any sword.


    They were out of the city when Gabumon jumped off Kira''s shoulder and  went back to being his original size. ''At his normal weight he would have crushed me. Oh well.''


    "Let''s go to Magnolia Gabumon!"


    Nodding happily. Kira opened his map. He found where he was and looked for Magnolia. He found it, but unfortunately it was some distance away: 100 miles, give or take. If he had a car, he''d be there in an hour or two, but he was walking. If only he had a mount...


    "Gabumon, when do you evolve next and what is your evolved form?" An idea sprang to mind. Gabumon looked at him questionably and answered "I evolve when I am level 20 and my next form will be called Garurumon." Kira went deep into thought, weighing the pros and cons of waiting here and leveling up and then going or immediately setting off. He had decided.


    "Alrighty then Gabumon. Let''s go and level up together!" Kira needed to kill around two more monkeys to level up whilst Gabumon would benefit greatly, one or two levels, just by eating one! ''The monkey takes a long time to respawn. Let''s kill some bears and goblins to waste time.''


    Kira walked into the forest and Gabumon ran alongside him. They soon found a bear. Kira was two levels higher than the level 16 bear so he gave Gabumon a turn to kill the bear by himself. Gabumon was hesitant at first, but Kira managed to persuade him, saying that he will be right behind him and will step in in needs be.


    In fact, it was over quickly. Gabumon''s blue blaster was more effective than when he had fought the goblin king. ''He has leveled it up.'' Kira noted. Gabumon used the range of blue blaster to burn the bear to ashes. It didn''t even know what hit it.


    The flames hit the bear right in the face, blinding it and melting its face off. Most of the bear''s fur was burnt to nothing; that was how hot the flames were. Once he was sure the bear was dead, Gabumon ran up to find the drops. 2 silvers and a core, which he immediately swallowed. Thankfully, he levelled up. Soon after, they met a pack of goblins.


    Kira drew his katana and swung it in a wide arc, behead two goblins. This was Iai; the art of quickly drawing one''s sword and beheading your opponent. ''Down to six.'' He threw three fireballs, burning the goblins. ''Down to three.'' Gabumon roasted two. ''Down to one.''


    Thhe last goblin knew it was going to die; it had seen how quickly its comrades had fallen. It ran at Kira, point forward. ''You overreached.''


    Kira sidestepped and brought his sword to the goblin''s sword, drawing sparks. They clashed and the goblin carried on going forward. Kira then, as the goblin was running past, took his right hand away from the hilt of the katana and activated chidori. In one second he thrust his hand through the goblin''s body, killing it.


    He threw the goblin''s body to Gabumon. "Alright. Gabumon. Try to level up! We are going to the monkey next!"

 Chapter 19

    They approached at the level 20 monkey''s spawn area. Kira drew his sword as went into the trees. However, what was waiting for him wasn''t a monkey; it was a party of six people, all trying to defend against the monkey''s speed. Apparently there were at least five more, but copper coins stood in place of them. The corpses of eleven pets lay scattered.


    Unfortunately for the ones that were still alive, they were all far slower than the monkey, and instead of gaining hits of it, they were being slashed left right and center.


    One warrior got decapitated, leaving a sword. His comrade tried to grab it for himself, but the monkey landed in him.


    The man tried to get up, but the monkey on top of him snaked its tail around his throat. Alarm appeared in the man''s eyes as his windpipe was crushed, but his body burt into light particles. The monkey had already forgotten about him, focusing on the three left.


    A wizard cast a fireball, but missed horribly, hitting a tree where the monkey had been moments before.


    ''Oh god. This rape is so unacceptable, even Pornhub won''t upload it.'' Kira entered the clearing. The party of three looked at him, wonder what he was about to do. Gabumon waddled in after Kira. "Hey, do you guys need any help?" Kira asked them. The monkey had retreated to the trees, unsure of the outsider.


    "Well what''s it look like? Yes, if you can help us." A shield warrior kept his eyes on the figure of the monkey. Ever the proffer, Kira then asked "Can I keep the corpse of the monkey after I''ve killed it?"


    Confusion spread across their faces before the shield warrior, apparently the leader of the party replied. "Fine but share the experience of killing it. Join our party until we kill it." A notification appeared in front of Kira.


    Do you want to join party ''The black order''?


    "Yes."


    You have joined ''The black order exorsists''


    Sighing to himself about the name, Kira looked at the monkey. It was sitting on a branch, baring its fangs. Suddenly it jumped on the ground, running towards Gabumon. "DODGE GABUMON!" Kira shouted, running at Gabumon. Gabumon dodged, but still revived a scar on his back from the monkey. With a cry, he fell down. The monkey tried to approach Gabumon, but had to side step a fireball.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Snarling at the incoming Kira, it jumped over him just a Kira slashed. It tried to grab Kira''s neck with it tail. ''You''re too naive.'' Kira swung his left arm in a wide backwards arc. A chidori sliced half of the tail off. Screeching with pain, it retreated hurriedly. The rest of the black order exorcists stared in wonder; one person had injured it when eleven of them could not.


    "Oi. Come back here, I haven''t finished with you yet!" Kira taunted the monkey. It didn''t know what he was saying, but if knew it was offensive. It screeched back at him.


    ''Lightning spear.'' He threw it catching the monkey off guard. It fell out of the trees, dead. ''Nice. One more to go and I should be level 19.''


    "Gabumon, eat the monkey''s core, will ya" he glanced back at the fallen Gabumon. ''Oh shit!'' He ran up to Gabumon. His breath was rapid and uneven. He had lost a lot of blood. His eyes were closed and his chest fell up and down. ''Shitshitshitshit'' He was losing him! "DON''T YOU FUCKING DIE ON ME!" Kira shouted, shaking Gabumon; he had no idea what to do.


    A light shone, encompassing Gabumon. His injury closed and the blood flowed back into the body; he had been healed. He glanced up at the party of three. A priest put down her staff and lightly smiled at Kira. "Thank you."


    Gabumon opened his eyes and shook his head to wake himself up. "I''m all right." Breathing a sigh of relief, Kira stood up to face the black order exorcists. "As per our agreement, you can have the coins on the ground. I will take my leave." They scrambled around, picking up the coins. They were obviously afraid that Kira would break his word. He waited until they had picked all the coins up. As they were about to leave, Kira left their party.


    Making sure that they were out of sight, Kira made the monkey his zombie with his necromancy. Smiling, he looked at Gabumon.  Level 15, it said above his head. ''Only five more to go.''


    "Gabumon, to waste time, lets hunt some goblins!" Gabumon looked at him quizzically.


    "Why? They''re lower levels so the exp they give is rather poor now compared to the bears and monkeys."


    "We''re going to use them to pass the time and bring the exp bar closer to full. Lets go hunting!"

 Chapter 20

    They both walked in-between the trees. Gabumon hummed alongside the silent Kira. They both looked around, trying to find their next prey. They had been looking around for the past few minutes and so far hadn''t met anything; man or monster.


    Their exp bars were almost full; a single dead monkey would fill it, or a bear and 16  goblins. They hurried, not wanting to wait around for the monster finding them...


    An hour later, they had not found anything. "Ah fuck this!" Kira threw his hands up in the air, exasperated "Let''s go back to the guild and get a job until the monsters respawn."


    They managed to get back without delay. Looking at the adverts, one caught his eye.


    Escort a caravan to Magnolia. Prepare your own food. Reward: 20 slivers. Recommended level: 18


    ''Perfect.'' Kira noted. He accepted the request. He approached Yukino. "Hi, do you know when this escort mission starts?" She took the advert, studied it for a second before answering "In two days. You need to buy food for the journey. Also. If you''re attacked and die, not only will you not receive the reward, you will respawn here." Kira nodded. Those were acceptable risks. He looked at the time in real world. ''Ah well, after school it is.'' He logged off.


    The next day, after he got home, John  hurriedly logged back on; he was late! He picked up the drowsy Gabumon and ran to the rendezvous point. He arrived just in time to see them pack everything up and leave. "HEY!" He shouted as he ran. "WAIT FOR ME!" The caravan stopped. Two people, a man and a woman approached him.


    As they drew closer, Kira could see them clearer. The man was rather timidly scurrying behind the figure of the woman. He had a blue and orange shirt and blue shorts. He wore something akin to a pilot''s goggles, except the lens were tinged orange. On his forehead he wore a silver headband, which was mostly covered up by his brown hair.


    The woman, on the other hand, advanced with more confidence than her friend. Her short yet wavy hair bounced as she ran. She had two purple rectangular shapes on her cheeks and the same silver headband. She had a pink sweater tied around her waist.


    Kira approached them both. "Sorry to be late. I only accepted this mission two days ago and wasn''t fully prepared." The girl stopped in front of him, evidently the leader of this caravan.


    "Oh alright. Make sure you protect us and our cargo. My name is Rin and this person behind me is called Obito." She introduced herself. "H-Hello." Obito nervously said his greetings. "We have to go so... Yeah. Come with us." Kira obediently followed.


    He and Gabumon walked alongside the caravan. There were a total of 11 guards, including himself and the two merchants. All of the NPC guards were level 18 whilst Obito and Rin were level 20. There was one level 17 player. The caravan was just one cart covered by a piece of cloth pulled by two horses. They made good progress, and by the end of day one, they had walked 20 miles. In fact, the journey was so boring he considered logging off. It became dark and they decided to stop. "Let''s camp here!" Rin, the lead merchant, shouted from the start of the caravan.


    The guards worked quickly, setting up tents, starting campfires and eating. Soon, the air was filled with a relaxed atmosphere. As Kira made camp, the level 17 approached him. "Hello Kira." He tensed up. Would this be one of those annoying pricks? "My name is Krillin. Nice to meet you face-to-face."


    Kira breathed a sigh of relief. This guy was a good guy. "Nice to meet you too. As you know, my name is Kira. Let''s finish this job together."


    A wolf''s howl interrupted their friendliness. Everyone present reached for their weapons. Kira unsheathed his katana whilst Krillin went into a fighting stance. ''Fighting wolves barehanded, eh?'' Kira noted. Wishing him luck they went back to back. "Make sure you are as brutal as your videos show, if you''re not, I will be disappointed." Krillin teased. "You jest. I will not disappoint but if your hands start hurting I could protect you from the big bad wolves." Kira retorted. "Protect the cargo." Rin shouted. They all perked up; that was they were being paid for. They huddled against the cart. Gabumon along with Krillin''s pet climbed on top of the cart, ready to provide support.


    After three minutes of tension, they appeared. They looked like wolves, but at least two meters in height. Their fur was black and didn''t reflect the moonlight like a normal wolf''s. "Dire wolves." A NPC next to Kira breathed. "What''s the difference between them and normal wolves."


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "They''re like wolves, but dire."


    "Oh."Kira sighed at the explanation. He readied his weapon as an entire pack of eight appeared. They circled the cart, looking out for the frightened; the weakest. ''This is taking too long.'' He said to himself after a minute. ''Lighting spear.'' He threw the spear at the closest wolf.


    It was like a signal, with NPC guards and dire wolves attacking each other. Wolves jumped, biting faces off; guards disembowelling stomachs.


    Kira ran at the wolf he had fried. Surprisingly, it was still alive. Kira stabbed into its head, piercing the brain. With a cry, it fell down. He turned to face the next wolf.


    The closest wolf looked back at Kira. It was one of the deadlier one; it was feasting on the body of the NPC that was next to Kira. He glanced at the corpse. The guard''s face was twisted into a look of horror. "I will avenge you." He told the man.


    "BLUE BLASTER!"


    Blue fire hit the wolf, burning the fur pelt of the wolf. It snarled in irritation, it faced the pets; they huddled in fright. ''Aw hell naw.''


    Kira dismembered the wolf''s front paw. It yelped in pain. It yelped in pain once more as he sliced the other paw off. It fell on its jaw, stunned from the fall and pain. Kira walked up to it. He raised his katana above the wolf''s head, point down.


    He brought it down. A yelp of pain. Silence.


    Kira looked around. The rest of the pack had been brought down, but not without casualties: Only 6 NPC guards remained. ''Better result than I thought it''d be.''


    *Ding* Congratulations on leveling up! Please assign stat points stat points available: 8


    "Please put 2 into strength and agility, and one for every other." Kira answered. He looked at Gabumon. "Oi, Gabumon, come here and eat these two cores. You might level up."


    Gabumon obeyed. He trotted over to the dire wolf drops. He picked up two cores. Opening his mouth, he swallowed one, and then the other. Kira looked at Gabumon''s level: 18


    He widened his eyes. Gabumon had increased by three levels! He smiled, ignoring the fact that he looked like a maniac standing in between corpses. A few guards uncomfortably shuffled away.


    ''Oh yeah. The drops.'' He looked at what he had earned; 6 silvers, a few wolf teeth and curiously, another pelt. ''How did it skin itself?'' He asked himself incredulously. ''Oh well.'' He compared his red bear pelt and the dire wolf pelt. ''Black is my favourite colour and it goes along with the mask.'' He said to himself, equipping the black dire wolf pelt.


    "So how did it go on your side?" Krillin approached Kira. Kira glanced at Krillin''s bloodied hands before replying "Not bad, but over quite quickly. You?" Krillin showed his hands.


    "They didn''t even put up a fight." Kira snorted. "Please, your stamina sucks. That fight took a lot from you."


    "How did you know?" His fellow martial artist asked. "You''re breathing irregularly. The programmers coded the game well for it to be so realistic."


    Kira smirked and then noticed Krillin''s pet: A small puppy. "What''s is the name of it?" He pointed at the small white dog. "This guy? He''s called Akamaru."


    "Can you two love-birds stopped flirting?" Rin suddenly shouted from the sidelines. They both glanced at Rin then at each other. They burst out laughing.


    Walking towards the center of the camp, Kira saw Obito trying to impress Rin. "Hey Rin, look. I took out one wolf by myself!" He excitedly exclaimed. "That''s nice. Well done." She brushed him off. Crestfallen, Obito went to get rid of the bodies.


    An hour later, Kira and Krillin sat around a fire. Akamaru and Gabunon were playing tag with each other a couple meters away from their masters. They both ate and chatted about their pasts.


    Krillin was apparently a martial artist in real life as well as in-game. His family ran a dojo and Krillin was supposed to inherit it at a later date. His favourite style of fighting was apparently Taekwondo.


    Kira told him his past. His parents were also martial artists but often put their skills into practical uses. He liked to fight using a mixture of Taekwondo and judo. However, neither of them told each other their real life name. Why would they?


    "Oi. Kira. Since you were late, you have first watch. Wake Krillin up in three hours. Then he will wake up the next guy. Go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us!" Rin shouted. Sighing in acceptance, Kira stood to go on guard.

 Lets make a list!

    Hello! It''s me, the author. Since there have been 20 chapters done and dusted, I decided to celebrate this milestone. How? BY MAKING A LIST OF ALL THE ANIME REFERENCES I''VE USED! So, without further ado, let''s begin.


    Death Note


    Fairy tail


    Berserk


    Trinity seven


    High school DxD


    Naruto


    Sword art online


    Akame ga kill


    Log horizon


    Digimon


    Pokemon


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.Shokigeki no soma


    Mirai nikki


    One piece


    Full metal alchemist


    Bleach


    Dragon ball Z


    Soul eater


    Code Geass


    Darker than black


    One punch man


    HunterxHunter


    D. Grayman


    Now, I will include more anime such as Tokyo ghoul, Attack titan and whatnot, but please bear with it. All at a later date. But, for now, see ya!

 Chapter 21

    Finally it was Krillin''s turn to take guard. His watch was thankfully uneventful. "Wake up sleepyhead. It''s your turn to stand guard." He shook Krillin who was muttering something about Goku? He got up, sleepy eyed. "Get up, I wanna sleep."


    After Krillin finally got up, Kira got his two bear cloaks and used them to make a makeshift sleeping bag. Gabumon lay beside him. "Night." He said out to his pet, closing his eyes.


    Logging off, he ate his dinner before logging back on and sleeping ingame.


    Kira was woken at the crack of dawn by an NPC guard. "Get up." With a sigh of resignation, he quickly got ready to leave. He put his ''sleeping bag'' into his inventory. He checked Gabumon, who was now awake.


    "Let''s go everyone!" Rin shouted. They all trudged down the road, the silence broken by the squeaking of the cart.


    They had gotten less than 100 meters from where they had made camp when suddenly arrows started flying. "BANDITS!" Rin shouted. ''You don''t say.'' They all huddled round the cart, facing enemy. They were in a large clearing, about 200 meters in diameter.


    Kira blocked arrows with his sword, ignoring the screams of pain that happened whenever someone got hit. Just as soon as they started, the arrows stopped flying. Tension hung in the air. He quickly glanced at his team and winced. Two guards were injured; one had arrows in his knees whilst one had his shoulder pierced.  Three looked like hedgehogs... ''Too late for them.''


    "CHARGE!" A deep, male voice shouted and the bandits rushed into view; there were about 70 of them. ''Well shit.'' Kira thought. He looked at Krillin and Akamaru. They were firmly looking straight at the approaching bandits. He looked at the NPCs. Only Rin, Obito and one more stood, ready to defend. He sighed. ''Desperate times call for desperate measures.'' He sheathed his katana, brought his hands up and unleashed a spell. "BRILLIANT FLAME OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Bringing his hands down, a two meter fireball headed straight for the rushing bandits. Startled, not all of them dodged.  The flames were hot enough to burn human flesh.


    The bandits that were unlucky to be caught in the flames were burnt alive, their screams of pain and anguish scaring their comrades. They stopped, unsure of what to do. "What are you waiting for, ya idiots?" A large man with a greataxe stepped out onto the clearing. "GET HIM!" He shouted, ordering his men. They looked at each other.


    They charged. ''65 left. I took out less than I wanted.'' He looked at his mana bar. ''Good enough for several spears.'' He went into a javelin thrower position. Activating his lightning spear skill, he threw the first spear, hitting a surprised bandit, it went though him and hit another guy behind him. They were both fried.


    He threw another one. And another one, taking out at least 20 unfortunate bandits. The other 40 were still running, including their apparent leader.


    None of the other members of the escort team had done anything, they were staring at Kira in shock and awe.


    ''They are getting close.'' Kira noted. The bandits were now less than twenty meters away and approaching rapidly. He drew his sword. "Prepare to engage!" He shouted. "YEAH!" Krillin and Gabumon shouted in response. Akamaru howled. Krillin, Gabumon and Akamaru stayed behind, protecting Rin and Obito.


    The 40 bandits slowed down, opting to circle around the cart. Kira gripped his weapon, glaring at the bandits. They grinned. He was preparing to rush them when suddenly


    *Ding* Your pet has been killed. You can revive it in the next town.


    "What the fuck?!" Turning round, the sight that greeted his eyes enraged him: It was Rin and Obito. Obito was pulling a sword from Krillin''s lifeless body whilst holding Akamaru''s head. The NPC guard lay dead, blood spurting from his throat. Rin pulled out a blood-stained dagger from Gabumon... She looked at Kira and smiled.


    ''They have betrayed us!'' Kira realised what was happening. ''This bitch is in league with the bandits!'' He looked at Gabumon. He was already dead. ''I''ll grieve him later. First comes my revenge!'' He held his sword vertically.


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    "Reap, heaven''s wheel."


    The bandits stopped five meters away from Kira, trying to see whether or not Kira''s bladed staff was handled with enough skill to endanger them.


    It was.


    Kira ran straight into their group, ignoring Rin and Obito. ''They will be the last.'' He sliced through the arm of the closest bandit, ignoring his screams. There were many of them. Too many, in fact, to face Kira effectively; their own numbers blocking each other. He ran in-between two bandits. Spinning his weapon in a circle, he sliced the two of them in half; one with a downwards stroke with his top blade, another with his bottom blade, swinging upwards. The men didn''t have time to scream, instead, their blood coated an infuriated Kira.


    He jumped over a blade. He landed and stabbed the perpetrator. He pulled out, impaling another one behind him. His massive weapon''s tip emerging from the other side.


    He spun his weapon horizontally, slicing one man in half. He then swung it diagonally and found it unexpectedly blocked. "I got yu now!" The bandit has some skill. However "You are too naive." He released his right hand and splayed his fingers out wards. "Fireball." He muttered. The man had a surprised look on his face as he was engulfed in flames.


    "Trash." Is all that Kira said. He faced the rest of the bandits, ignoring the screams of the dying man. He spun his bladed staff, keeping them at distance. They looked back at Kira, circling nervously.


    He checked his mana capacity. ''200 mana left. I can take 20 out with fireballs and cut down the remaining.'' He looked at Obito and Rin. They were standing with grins on their faces, sure of their victory. He pointed a finger at the two of them before downing 5 mana potions. They looked at Kira in confusion. "You''re dessert. Don''t run."


    "DON''T IGNORE US!" A bandit screamed and rushed Kira, sword held high. Kira didn''t even look at him as he cast a fireball, burning him alive. The bandits recoiled in shock and fear, thinking about their next move.


    Unfortunately, Kira didn''t waste any time and rushed straight into them, cutting people apart left and right. He slashed a young man, barely 20, in half. ''Wrong profession amateur.'' He moved onto another, slightly older man. Fear ran across that man''s face. Kira disemboweled him nonetheless.


    These bandits were only level 9, completely outmatched when faced with a level 19 Kira. He mercilessly slashing left and right, ignoring the shouts and thumps when a dead body hit the floor. He looked as though he was dancing. A deadly dance of death.


    He suddenly stopped. He was covered in blood and looked around; people were running away. "Don''t run away!" He cackled like a demented child. "LET''S PLAY!" With that, he spied the back of the nearest bandit.


    "Lightning bolt." He threw it, hitting the man in the back. Convulsing in pain, he screamed and collapsed. He threw another one, and soon the only bandits that were standing were Obito, Rin and the large bandit carrying a great axe. Each and every other bandit was dead; fried burnt or in pieces.


    Kira had throw lightning bolts in their direction, but they had either blocked it or dodged.


    Level 18. It said above the unidentified man''s head. The trio approached Kira, surrounding him. Kira, on the other hand, nervously gripping his weapon. ''These people are trained and outnumber me.'' He desperately searched a way out of this situation. ''Think. Think. THINK!''


    He remembered one of his training days. His father was the instructor and he remembered the moves clearly. The great axe was 9 meters away from him.


    ''First you must have two weapons. This is essential for this move to work.''


    Kira sheathed his sword and pulled out a throwing knife out of his inventory. He approached the great axe. His enemy reached for his weapon, albeit nervously.


    ''For this move to work, your opponent needs to feel fear.'' Check.


    He held his throwing knife up. The bandit''s eyes moved from Kira to the knife. His father''s words rang in his head.


    ''Drop it.''


    He dropped the knife, confusing the man. The man''s eyes were still glued to the knife. ''Perfect.''


    Kira clapped his hands. A loud bang made the man lose focus. Kira took advantage of that; he went into the Iai stance and ran straight at him, cleaving the man in two; his body hitting the ground with two thuds.


    Rin and Obito stood in shock. Once again, his father''s words resounded.


    ''Do you realise why it works John? The reason why this move works is because it forces your opponent''s mind to blank out. They are slow to react for a second or two.'' Kira looked at the two remaining. ''Once their mind blank out, kill them."


    Rin pulled out two short kunai out. Obito reached for a small sphere and a kunai. Kira drew his sword.


    This was the final round.

 Chapter 22

    Obito and Rin looked at Kira. "Why did you betray us?" He questioned them. Rin smirked. "For the money." She casually replied. Kira was shocked; these were the worst types of people. "So... Um. The dead bodies around, weren''t these your friends?" He still hadn''t relaxed his guard. "You could at least seem sad for them. And anyway, now that they''re dead, isn''t it just a waste?"


    "Pffft." She started laughing. "The more corpses the more money we get from their bodies. That great axe over there, that''s worth at least  5 silvers. We sell it and we''re rich." She spread her arms. "Simple!"


    ''Despicable.'' He tensed. "So you won''t mind it if I do the same to you, right?" Suddenly Obito threw his sphere. "NOBODY IS GOING TO HARM RIN!" He started doing hand gestures rapidly.


    Kira sliced the sphere in half. A foul smell hit him. ''Methane. The hell?'' His question was answered when Obito breathed fire. "WHAT THE FUCK!" Kira shouted, just rolling out of the ensuing explosion.


    He gripped his bladed staff and ran at them. Rin blocked his swipe with her kunai.


    Clang. A metallic sound resounded on the battlefield. He swung upwards, hoping to cleave her in half. She jumped out of the way, throwing a kunai at Kira. He dodged.


    He sensed Obito behind him and barley managed to block a stab. They were in stale mate, but not for long. Kira released his hand and slapped Obito. Just when he was about to slash his head off, Kira had to jump to the side. He had scratched Obito''s silver headband, forming one long slash horizontally across.


    "You okay?" Rin asked Obito. Nodding, Obito handed a kunai over to Rin. ''I am tired of this shit.''


    He threw a throwing knife at Rin and Obito, distracting them. Immediately afterwards, he threw a bolt at both of them. Obito and Rin both blocked the knife but only Obito noticed the lightning bolt headed their way. Not caring for himself, he tackled Rin to the ground.


    The lightning bolt hit Obito instead of Rin. He screamed and collapsed, but he didn''t die . Kira didn''t waste any time; he ran straight at them and as soon as Rin stood up, he hit her in the stomach. She stumbled, winded. Kira followed up with a high kick into her face. She flew for half a meter into the air before collapsing unconscious. He was just about to stab her when Obito suddenly tried to stab Kira. ''Pathetic.''


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Obito stumbled, off balance. Without any hesitation Kira lifted his leg and brought it down, breaking Obito''s knee.


    He screamed in pain; his leg bent at an unnatural angle. He collapsed, but unfortunately for him, Kira didn''t stop there. Kira chopped the man''s arm off just below the elbow. Obito flailed in pain.


    He approached Rin. He was just about to cleave her in two when he had an idea. Smiling, he grabbed Rin''s throat. She didn''t even try to resist; she was unconscious. Kira brought her over to Obito. "Hey Obito. Look." Rin fought through his pain and saw it: Kira was holding a sleeping Rin by the throat with his right hand in the air.


    "So, I noticed that you''ve been trying to win her over all throughout the journey." Obito gritted his teeth in pain and confusion; where was this going?


    "Well, because I''m such I nice person, I will tell you a secret. Say Obito" Kira inquired. He looked at him and smiled.


    "Do you know the fastest way to a girl''s heart?" Electricity danced on his left hand.


    "NO! DON''T!!" Obito screamed; he knew what was about to happen.


    "Chidori." Kira plunged his hand into Rin''s chest, his hand emerging from the other side.


    "NOOOOOO! RIN!" Obito screamed the name of his love. All in vain though.


    Kira threw her corpse into the ground, approaching a sobbing Obito. His bladed staff returned to katana form.  He brought it up.


    Obito sniffled and realised his fate. He looked Kira straight in the eye. "At least you die like a man." Kira said, swinging it down.

 Chapter 23

    *Ding* Congratulations! You have reached level 20! Please assign stats. Stat points available: 10


    *Ding* Congratulations! You have reached level 21! Please assign stats. Stat points available: 20 #


    Please put six into dexterity, four into strength and agility each, two into intelligence and wisdom each and two into stamina."


    Kira sat near the cart he had fought for. Corpses surrounded spread around the clearing, sometimes burnt, sometimes fried or in pieces.


    "Let''s see what Gabumon died protecting."


    He entered the cart and inside was a single treasure chest and unfortunately it was locked. It was 1.5 meters long; too heavy to carry. He glanced around the interior. There were no keys inside the cart. Instead, he looked at the person who had hired him; Rin. He walked over to the corpse that had a hole in its chest.


    He spied her purse. He tore her purse off, opening it, he saw some money and one key. ''Bingo.'' He took the money, which amounted to two silvers. ''Never know where that will be handy.''


    He also took Obito''s money. However, Obito also carried a key.


    He examined the keys. One was golden and had a Ram''s horns instead of the teeth. On the underside, written in neat letters, was one name.


    Capricorn


    ''The hell is this?'' Kira looked at the strange design. ''Most locks won''t accept such a design.''


    He looked at the second one. This design was slightly fancier but it was also the same colour. It had something akin to a skull at the start of the neck and a weird, symmetrical design. Underneath this key was also one name.


    Leo


    Kira then noticed the handles. Capricorn had a weird inverted ''N'' whilst Leo had something like a hangman''s rope. ''These things are strange. Oh well.'' He sighed. ''Lets see if these open the chest.''


    He re-entered the cart. Kneeling down, he tried to look for a key opening. He found it. Or, more precisely, twelve of them. ''So I got to find ten more of them so I can open this chest to see what lies inside. Hmmm.'' He suddenly had the urge to look if any of the other bandits had a key.


    One hour later...


    Kira stood up with a sigh. He had rummaged through most of the corpses, but to no avail. Although he had picked up a total of 7 silvers, he still wasn''t happy. He looked at the great axe. ''Last one then.'' He looked at the man''s corpse, and tried to find the purse. Finally he found it.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Tearing it open, three silver coins fell out, as well as one golden key. ''Huzzah!'' Kira jumped in joy. He examined the key. It was a symmetrical key, with as double axe as its teeth.


    Taurus


    He looked at the handle design; It was an ''o'' with horns? ''Oh well. Let''s see if I can open the chest at least partially.''


    Grimacing, he stood up and pocketed the money. Holding the three keys, he studied the key holes. He found the appropriate key holes. He took Capricorn. He inserted it and turned.


    A quiet ''clunk'' sounded. He took Taurus, inserted the key and twisted Taurus. Another ''clunk'' sound, but this time slightly louder. Kira looked at the final key. He took Leo pushed and twisted. A ''clunk,'' the loudest this time, resounded.


    Silence. ''Boy that was anticlimactic.'' He looked around. "Now what?" A notification answered his question.


    *Ding* Congratulations! You have unlocked B rank quest!


    "What the fuck?"


    Your quest is to find all twelve celestial spirit keys and unlock the treasure within. Rewards: Level up and you keep what is inside the chest. Do you accept?


    Kira looked at the notification. "Yes."


    *Ding* Congratulations! You have accepted ''Key hunter'' quest!


    Keys acquired: 3/12


    "Well now what. How am I supposed to find the keys?" He had literally no idea where to start. No other players had reported of these Celestial spirit keys... If only he had a map to show where they were... He took the keys out and put them into his inventory.


    "Ah fuck it. I have to meet Lucy in the Magnolia. Let''s continue forward and then revive Gabumon. He looked towards the chest. "You''re coming with me." Kira put it in his inventory. He looked at the two horses and freed them. He didn''t need them.


    They neighed as though thanking him and sped off into the distance, finally free. As they galloped off, Kira took out his map.


    However he was pleasantly surprised when instead of just the town names, there were also symbols most were stationary but one was moving; slowly, but surely. ''So this is where I find the keys... But why did the system show this to me?'' He questioned. Wouldn''t it be too easy to find them?''


    He stared at it for a few seconds before noticing... The one that was moving was going in his direction. ''Well should I wait for this person or do I flee?'' He puzzled over this.


    ''Ah fuck it. Let''s go to see Magnolia. Hopefully I will sufficient level by the time the other key holder so I can put up a decent fight.'' With that, he walked straight to Magnolia, going through the forest and not the road.


    He didn''t even walk 50 meters into the forest when he was noticed he was being stalked by dire wolves. ''Well...'' He analysed the situation.


    "Shit."

 Chapter 24

    Kira drew his katana. He still kept walking, but this time with more caution. These dire wolves were dangerous. Several guards had fallen to them and Kira barely managed to kill one by himself. He needed help to kill a second one; fight an entire pack would be incredibly hard.


    He stopped. The wolves had surrounded him but were still darting in between trees, not showing themselves. Kira held his katana in two hands, making the blade point diagonally forward. The pack understood Kira''s actions and showed themselves.


    A black wolf emerged right in front of Kira.


    Level 24


    "But since I am now level 21, this fight is going to be slightly more fair." He stared the wolf straight in the eye. "Come at me."


    The wolf snarled and jumped straight at Kira, its claws spread wide. Instead of jumping to the side, Kira instead set his sword alight and stepped under the wolf''s jump, but he held his sword up and swung it. He ducked his head down.


    The wolf snapped at the back of his head, barely missing. However, it noticed the flaming sword that it was headed to.


    It looked up and noticed the sword. It wanted to stop, but its momentum carried it forward into the sword. It yelped for a second.


    Kira felt the sword cut through the wolf''s stomach. Intestines and blood fell on Kira, but he ignored all this.


    He stood up. The wolf that had attacks him was lying on its side with and open chest. Blood and organs falling out of a meter long gap.


    He surveyed the rest of the pack, who numbered eleven. They stared back at him with eyes full of hate. ''Once again I am surprised at the realism of this game.'' He went into the Iai stance. Kira''s eyes darted from one wolf to another.


    Two wolves charged at Kira. He noticed both jump at him and rolled to the side. He faced them. Unfortunately he forget to pay attention to the other wolves.


    He paid for this mistake in blood. A wolf behind Kira ran up to bite his body in half. He luckily saw the wolf at the last second and spun round, bringing the katana in a wide circle and thus cleaving the wolf in half.


    However, this encounter did leave with scar right across his shoulder and upper arm. He started bleeding profusely. ''Shit. There are 10 left. t this rate, next time I log in will be back in Konohoa.'' He hissed in pain.


    He needed to heal himself and a distraction for the wolves... He widened his eyes as he remembered his secret weapon. Kira held his right arm to his bleeding shoulder, smiling, he said


    "§±§à§ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ, §Þ§×§â§ä§Ó§í§Ö."


    As soon as he muttered the cursed words, a purple liquid spread around Kira. From there, emerged two identical undead.


    As quickly as it appeared, the liquid vanished. The undead looked at Kira expectantly. The dire wolves, on the other hand, were unsure of what was happening; where had these new foes appeared from? Why had they gaping holes in their bodies but were still standing?


    Kira looked at his undead. He straightened and pointed a finger towards one of the wolves.


    "Turn them"


    This message acted as though a switch had been flicked. Roaring, the two monkeys sprinted towards the confused wolf.


    The wolf hesitated for a split-second before retaliating. It roared and jumped at the closest monkey. However, the monkey was quicker than the wolf and yet, instead of slicing the dire wolf from head to toe, it merely scratched it before moving onto the next wolf.


    Soon, the entire pack of ten dire wolves was scratched. Kira on the other hand, had finished off  the last of his mana potions. Turns out every single time an undead uses a necromancer spell, the mana is drawn from the master.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Suddenly the wolves, practically at the same time, fell down twitching. The monkeys both jumped in front of Kira. He smirked. ''Easier than I thought.''


    The pack all stood up and walked in front of Kira.


    *Ding* Congratulations! You have reached level 22! Please assign stats. Stat points available: 10


    "Three into agility, two into both strength and dexterity and three into wisdom."


    Kira looked at the undead standing in front of him, fully healed.


    "§±§â§ñ§é§î §Þ§×§â§ä§Ó§í§ç."


    Once more, the purple liquid seemed from the earth and swallowed up them. Kira took out his map. ''According to this, the other key holder is 200 meters away from here.'' He took out some food. ''No point in running. Let''s see what they want.'' He crunched on a sandwich and sat down.


    10 minutes later...


    A two figures emerged from the forest and entered the clearing. It was a male and a female, or more specifically, a boy and a girl. They were both unassuming and both wore high school uniforms... ''The fuck. Is this some kind of school trip?''


    When they reached Kira they sat down in front of him. Kira finally had a good look at him and her. They, of course, couldn''t; The mask of Hei was masking his face.


    They sat in awkward silence before the girl started talking.


    "Hello there. My name is Mitsuki Mononobe and this is my brother Yu Mononobe."


    Her voice was full of confidence and authority. Kira nodded his head in greeting.


    "Hello, my name is Kira. Why are you here in the middle of the woods? This isn''t a good place for a school excursion."


    The boy smirked and replied


    "Well you and I both know why we are here." Kira sighed, why did they have to fight?


    "The celestial spirit keys. So... What are two kids who are the same level as me going to do?"


    They glanced at each other before nodding. Kira rested his hand on his katana. ''Please don''t do anything stupid. I would hate to kill some kids...''


    They suddenly prostrated themselves in front of Kira. ''The fuck?!'' They suddenly started begging.


    "Please teach us how to fight!"


    Kira frantically waved his arms around, trying to make sense of the situation. They kept pleading.


    "We want to become strong like you. We saw what you did after those people attacked you!"


    ''I knew I should have got rid of them...'' Kira cursed. He sighed. "Fine, but how exactly do you  want to improve?"


    "Close combat!" They shouted. "We have powerful to get revenge!" Kira started; who did they need to get revenge on?


    "Fine. But first, tell me what happened."

 Chapter 25

    The older brother started their tale.


    "When my sister and I were little, we used to attend this academy called Dragonar Academy. We used to learn how to tame fight and ride dragons. We had many friends and all the teachers were nice. It was a happy life and we were content.


    The sister continued.


    "One of my friends had this elder sister who was considered to be the best Dragonar in the academy, some even thought that she was the best."


    ''Alright. Happy little life and then tragic backstory. AmIRight?''


    "We were very good friends with each other. My dragon was awesome and friendly. Yu''s was weird, but powerful."


    ''Get to the point... I have to log off soon.'' Kira was getting impatient... Unfortunately the girl kept droning on.


    "So once every four years we have this competition called the Bladedance of Elementalers." She suddenly started to talk rapidly. "ThereWeAreOnlyAllowedToUseSwordSkillsUntilOnePartySubitsToTheOtherMy friend''sSister


    CameFirstWhichReallyExcitedUsAtFirst." She took a deep breath.


    "WeaReturnedToTheAcademyLikeKingsWeWereCelebratedAndEsspeciallyMyFirends''sSister


    HoweverOnTheDayOfTheCelebrationsSheDisappeared


    AtFirstWeThoughtNothingWasWrongAndCelebratedTheentir-"


    Kira had snapped, his patience broken


    "GODDAMMIT!" He yelled. "KEEP THE STORY STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AND LESS THAN TWENTY WORDS!"


    The siblings looked shocked. The girl looked away like a timid mouse but the brother spoke in place of her.


    "The sister stole the strongest flame spirit Leviathan and angered the flame spirit king. He destroyed our academy and our home, so we want revenge." Kira pondered. "So what is her level?"


    "We do not know, but last time we saw her, she was level 60..." Kira whistled. "You do realise that I am the same level as you, right?" They both nodded. ''Oh NPCs, why do you have such complicated back-stories?'' He cursed the system.


    "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask; what is her name?"


    They looked Kira straight in the eye.


    "Stella Vermillion."


    10 minutes later...


    ""WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!?!" Kira screamed. In front of him was a gigantic green cannon six meters in diameter. On the inside multiple rings were spinning, forming a ball of light. ''ShitshitshitshitShITSHIT!''


    It fired.


    20 minutes before...


    "So you want me to train you so you can kill this... Stella Vermillion." They both fiercely nodded. "Alright. Let me warn you. Revenge is not a way of life. Don''t let the darkness consume you. Once it touches you it''s too late to fully go back." They stared at him in shock, taken aback by the philosophical line Kira was sprouting.


    "Anyway, show me what kind of fighting prowess you have." He stood up. Dusking himself off, he walked 20 meters away. "Give me your best shot, Yu, Mitsuki."


    "Yes!" They both shouted energetically. They both stood up took a stance. Suddenly a blue longbow appeared in Mitsuki''s hands. Pulling the string with all her strength, she poured mana into the bow. An arrow made out of pure mana appeared. ''That shit is dangerous...'' He jumped a millisecond before Mitsuki released.


    The arrow sped by Kira faster than he had expected. It hit a tree and


    BOOOM


    A massive explosion swept Kira off his feet. He did a twist mid-air and landed on his feet. He looked at Mitsuki; she was breathing heavily.


    "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?!" Kira shouted.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon."This is a practice match. These are the only spells we know soooo... Yeah." Yu interjected. He raised one of his hands up and a giant cannon was materialising above his head. As it solidified, the upward-facing cannon fell down to point in Kira''s direction. The rings inside the weapon started to slowly spin, but were rapidly gaining speed.


    Thus bringing us to the present situation...


    "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?!" Kira shouted. "It''s my one and only spell!" Yu shouted back. ''ShitshitshitshitShITSHIT''


    Kira sheathed his sword and drew his throwing knives. He managed to throw two before rolling to the side.


    The laser obliterated the space where Kira''s body had been a moment before. ''Thank goodness I dodged.'' Kira thought. ''Otherwise I would have woken on the altar again.''


    The laser disintegrated several wolves and bears in the forest, but an otherwise unhurt Kira didn''t know that. He looked at the siblings. They were both on the ground, crying in pain. A throwing knife was stuck in their thighs. Kira approached them. "Aw come on, stop being babies. ''Tis just a flesh wound."


    He gripped the knives and pulled them out. The pair winced. Thankfully, the wound was not deep. However "It would be detrimental for you to have injuries. Anyone here know healing magic?"


    They both shook their heads, applying pressure to the knife wound. Kira sighed. Looks like healing spells were a no-go... Wait. ''I have mana sensing. I can create the spell.'' Kira grinned at the idea of healing himself mid-combat. But first, he actually needed to create the spell.


    Kira concentrated, focusing his mana into their wounds. He imagined a light re-growing their cells and closing up the wound, leaving no trace.


    A surprised gasp made his eyes open. Mitsuki was looking at the place where the wound should be; instead, there was nothing. Just normal skin. Yu jumped in front on Kira, almost knocking him over.


    ''He obviously cares for his little sister.'' Kira smiled at the panicking Yu, who ignored his own injury.


    *Ding*Congratulations! You have created spell: Healing touch! This spell heals your allies and yourself just by touch. It does holy damage on undead. Costs: 50 mana


    ''Well holy shit. I didn''t expect it to have such a massive drain. Oh well.'' He beckoned to Yu. "Come here. It''s your turn."


    Yu complied and turned to face Kira. Kira placed his hand over his wound and activated healing touch. A light glowed from inside his hand for few seconds before fading. Once Kira removed his hand, the skin looked good as new.


    Kira''s battle sense went into over drive; he whirled round at drew his sword, blocking two throwing knives. He looked at the intruder.


    It was Dylan! He relaxed his guard. "Hey. Mind trying not to kill me everytime we meet?" Dylan laughed and shook his head. "Nah mate. Trying to kill you is fun and it keeps you on your toes." Kira smirked.


    "So what are you doing here?" Kira asked Dylan.


    "Ah nothing much. Just running from some people." Kira blanked. "Wait what!?"


    Dylan laughed once more, albeit slightly embarrassed. "I used to be part of this organization and I left. However, the organization didn''t want me to leave, so I had a choice. Join them or die."


    Kira sighed. This guy...


    "So I choose option three: I killed the ones there and ran away."


    "So now they''re actively hunting you."


    "Yes."


    "Do you run about a lot."


    "Not always."


    "Are you running now?"


    "Well I was kinda hoping you would help kill them."


    "Man you are just..." Kira sighed. "You know what? Fine. Where are they?"


    Dylan motioned to the trees where he came from. He held up three fingers. "Three."


    "Two."


    "One."


    BAM


    Cloaked figures ran into the clearing. They numbered around 30 but most were higher leveled than Kira.


    "Level 45 is the highest here Kira." Dylan faced the enemies. "You guys take care of the small fry. I''ll take on the big fish."


    "Goddammit Dylan. I have only met you like, what, three times and you''re already pushing your problems on me!" Kira complained.


    "Aw don''t be such a kill-joy. This is part of the small print in staying at our hotel."


    "THERE WAS NO SMALL PRINT DAMMIT!"


    The party of four stood up and too their respective stances. The cloaked pursuers drew their own weapons and charged.

 Chapter 26

    Dylan ran straight for the level 45. Several other assassins ran to stop him. Dylan had a huge grin on his face and he laughed like a psycho.


    ''Fucking battle maniac.''


    Kira''s eyes widened when Dylan showed his weapon. It was an unassuming short sword made entirely out of one dull grey metal. There was one blood red ruby in the middle of the hilt and blade. Knowing Dylan, Kira knew he wouldn''t pick this sword just for shits and giggles.


    Kira meanwhile acted as the vanguard for the two siblings. They had just drunk their mana potions and were waiting for their spells to charge up. Kira had to protect them while they waited.


    His katana clashed with a masked man, his strength giving way. He gave way and the man''s sword struck deep into the Earth.  Not losing momentum Kira spun round and beheaded him. He turned and immediately parried a sword headed for his neck. Kira activated a chidori and plunged it into the man''s chest. Drawing his bloodied hand away, Kira was suddenly stabbed in the thigh by a dagger. The perpetrator slashed sideways, aiming to cut the tendons entirely. ''Aw hell naw.'' Kira spun his katana in a motion akin to sheathing his sword. The assassin noticed the sword pointed straight at his face but by then it was too late. Kira stabbed right through the man''s head. Drawing his sword out in a wide arc, Kira allowed himself a brief moment of respite. He healed his leg and faced the rest of them. There were about 10 left; the rest were fighting Dylan... Correction. Were fighting Dylan.


    Kira''s POV


    He was standing in the midst of corpses, holding the head of the level 45. His clothing was unblemished. ''Really!? He''s that powerful but still asked for my help!?!''


    Yu''s voice broke me from my thoughts.


    "Get out of the way!" I widened my eyes. ''Shit.'' I ran to side and jumped, the soles of my shoes vaporized by the laser. I landed and glanced at the assassins. And there was nothing left of them... ''Jesus Christ Kid NPCs are dangerous...''


    I got up and checked the soles of my shoes. Burnt. That was the best way to describe them.


    Sighing at the state of them, I walked up to Dylan. "Drop the head." He obliged, and it fell down with a wet squelch.


    "Well done on fighting those guys." He complemented. "Your two friends took care of them quickly. So did you, and boy those were brutal." He carried on even when I approached him. "A hand to the chest, a sword to the face. Man you are brut-" he stopped talking as I tried to chidori him. He jumped back, narrowly missing my attack. "Goddammit Dylan. Why are such a bastard?" He held both his hands up. "Woah woah. You didn''t die did you? There''s nothing to be angry about." I looked at him seething.


    "There were Goddamn 30 of them!" I shouted. "You were evidently more powerful; why didn''t you kill them!?!" He made a phff sound, enraging me further. "I was lazy."


    "YOU SON OF A-"


    A hand stopped me from completing my profanity. It was Yu. "Kira." He looked me straight in the eye. "Now''s not the time to be arguing. There may be extra pursuers" Dylan nodded to emphasize this "So I recommend that we get out of here." Sighing, I found that he was right. "Fine. Let''s go." Dylan led the way. The siblings unhesitatingly followed. As I reached the end of the clearing I looked back before following.


    29 minutes later...


    "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LEAD US HERE DYLAN?!?!" I shouted at the grinning fucker next to me. Yu and Mitsuki both had angry faces as well. In front of us was a giant treant. It was laughing at us. It raised an arm and brought it down upon us.


    29 minutes before...


    As we walked through the forest the trees evidently got thicker and darker and more sinister. There were less clearings and as we went deeper and deeper the sounds of wildlife grew steadily quieter.


    I don''t like that... "There''s a large predator nearby isn''t there?" I asked Dylan. "Maybe... Maybe not. We''ll see." He replies ambiguously but "There''s something dangerous here isn''t there." We walk out into a clearing that was larger than the previous ones. In the middle of the clearing there was a humanoid tree?


    *Ding* You have entered final boss room of the forest.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions."Fuck you Dylan." I cursed and drew my katana. I looked at the tree. Evidently it was the boss. Red dots appeared in the eyes as it stood up. I gazed at it, crestfallen. "IT IS OVER 70 METERS TALL. WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN US INTO DYLAN!?!"


    Dylan, on the other hand, was calmly analysing the boss instead of freaking out. He suddenly called out


    "This thing is called Lullaby. It is level 60 and I the boss of this entire dungeon. Apparently, once its health degenerates to a certain degree, it will activate its ultimate called ''Song of death.'' I don''t know about you guys but let''s kill it quickly."


    "Or we could get out of here SINCE WE ARE A THIRD OF ITS LEVEL!" I shout at the group. I attempted to get out but the way back was blocked by trees.


    "DID YOU THINK I WOULD LET YOU ESCAPE!?!"


    The raspy voice of Lullaby made me realise my situation. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck." I breathe out. "Let''s end this quickly. Yu, Mitsuki. Charge up and shoot this thing. Me and Dylan will try and distract it." My party nods. "LET''S GO!"


    The siblings stay behind and start muttering their respective spells. Meanwhile Dylan and I ran straight towards Lullaby. It raised its foot and stamped down. I was blown away by sheer air pressure alongside Dylan. We barrel into Yu and Mitsuki, breaking their concentration and thus their spells.


    I got up, helping Mitsuki as well. I looked at Dylan. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LEAD US HERE DYLAN?!?!" I shouted at the grinning fucker next to me. Yu and Mitsuki both had angry faces as well. In front of us was a giant treant. It was laughing at us. It raised an arm and brought it down upon us. ''Shit.'' We scattered.


    Instead of running away for the boss, I ran straight to it. It was in a kneeing position and as I stabbed into its foot, I set alight my sword. The boss obviously felt that.


    It howled and tried to swat me away like a fly. ''Nope.'' It dodged and it hit itself. I raised my hands in the air. Mana gathered in my arms and I turned it into flames four meters in diameter.


    I threw the spell ''Brilliant flame of the fire dragon'' but didn''t shout out the name; Dylan would mock me endlessly for that. The flames headed towards the chest area of the boss. It cried with pain, flailing. ''Why does a tree feel pain anyway?'' Not pondering any longer, I followed up with some more, ordinary fireball.


    "BRIONAC!"


    "MARDUK!"


    It was the siblings. I looked back and saw Mitsuki holding her longbow and Yu standing behind a gigantic cannon. They fired at the same time.


    Mitsuki shot right through Lullaby''s arm, severing it at the shoulder whilst Yu made a gigantic hole in its chest. It roared, seething with anger. ''Okay. So far so good.'' I looked around.


    "But where''s Dylan?"


    "I AM UP HERE!" I looked at the diresction the sound. "What the fuck..."


    He was on top of the head, sliced and dicing downwards through the head.


    The boss snarled in anger.


    "Curse you mortals! You have forced this upon yourselves. LISTEN TO MY SONG OF DEATH!"


    All of us tensed. A low whistling sound resounded. I tilted my head. Evidently something was not right. Even the boss knew that.


    "WHAT! WHY DIDN''T YOU DIE!? I ACTIVATED IT SO WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING!?!


    Dylan cackled like a maniac.


    "WE MADE HOLES IN YOU!" I tilted my head. That''s the reason!?!


    "We made so many holes in you your sound just leaks out!" Dylan kept laughing and cutting up the boss.


    "NOO! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"


    I threw another brilliant flame of the fire dragon, but this time at the one of the legs. "SHOOT THE LEG AND ARM!" I shouted at the pair who had finally drank enough potions for their second shot.


    "BRIONAC!"


    "MARDUK!"


    They fired at Lullaby.  It attempted to dodge but the laser and the arrow were too fast and too powerful.


    BOOM


    His arm and leg fell off, falling in my direction. ''Nonononono'' I ran to the side and out of the way of the falling wood. ''Why do movie characters always run in a straight line?'' I asked myself. ''Aw well. Time to finish this.''

 Not a chapter- its a poll!

    Hello readers! Here I was wanting to post a poll when suddenly my computer fucked up. However, I tried to go back to the page but my chapter had already been published. So, I am posting this. The question is....


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    1 st POV


    or


    3rd POV


    Please answer this. Anyway, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 27

    Lullaby was somehow standing up with on one leg  with no arms. My flames finally burned through his leg. It couldn''t support its own weight and broke with a cracking sound.


    I watched as the flame-ridden boss fell down. It screamed as its face hit the floor. Dylan tumbled out, laughing.


    "BEST THRILL RIDE EVER!" He screamed, spread-eagled on the ground. I walked up to the fallen boss. It was down but not out.


    I raised my katana and activated my finisher. Sword of the lightning flame dragon fell. It cut one meter into the ''neck'' of Lullaby but didn''t go any further. I raised and swung the katana again and again until finally, the head broke off the body. The red eyes dimmed and finally faded away.


    *Ding* Congratulations on beating the boss! You have reached reached level 29! Please assign stat points! Stat points available: 40


    "Please assign my normal ratio." That would be the best for me. He looked at the siblings and found that they were standing strong and not breathing heavily; they had leveled up as well. They were also level 29. Suddenly the boss made a creaking sound akin to a tree falling and I turn around, ready to fight. Instead of a boss ready to fight, the boss in question broke apart, revealing the drops.


    My eyes widened in delight. More money! I sheathed my sword and walked up to the pile. This drop clearly expected a a full adventurer expedition to defeat it. There was enough money for 24 people.


    Usually, one party is comprised of six people. If two parties join together, it is called an scouting expedition. This type of composition is, as its name suggests, used for scouting and generally full of the lower levels of the expedition. If four, proper party making 24 people join together to conquer a dungeon, it is called a full adventurer expedition. These were normally only created by guilds to fight particularly difficult bosses. Hence, the ridiculous amount of drops.


    I scanned the drops and decided to spread it equally until-


    "You guys can have my share." Dylan shouted, still   lying on the ground. "Fine"


    There were three skills books, three good coins and one weapon. I examined the skills books first.


    Vine whip: A whip made out of a vine is created, allowing you to wield it for ten seconds or it is broken.


    Wither: You draw the life force from plants, healing yourself in the process. Type of plant absorbed


    increases effects.


    Entangle: Tree roots coil around your opponent, immobilizing them for one second.


    I made a quick decision. ""Mitsuki, you''re getting the entangle spell. Yu, you''re getting the vine whip and I''ll have the last skill."


    "Why do I get the whip?" Yu incredulously cried. "Well when you summon your cannon you have an arm free. Mitsuki doesn''t. Thus you can wield it. Also, Mitauki''s bow needs to have good accuracy. It is better if her opponent is immobilized. You don''t have to worry about accuracy; you just point and shoot. She has to." I reasoned. He seemed convinced and dropped the subject. I looked at the weapon drop. It was a book? "Why is a book a weapon?


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Anyone want this?" I held the black book up. All three shook their heads. ''Mine to keep.''


    ''Hello there young man.'' A female voice resounded. I looked around; Mitsuki was too busy trapping her brother. It obviously wasn''t her.


    The hell? Are there voices in my head?


    ''Congratulations on contracting me!''


    ''Mist be going crazy. I will put this in my inventory and study this later.'' The voice suddenly became panicky.


    ''NONONO I AMALEGENDARYGRIMOIREDON''T PUTMEAWA-''


    The voice shut up as soon as I put the book into my inventory. ''Oh well. I''ll examine it later.''


    I stood up. "Oi! Yu! Mitsuki! Time to start your lessons." I beckoned to them. "I will show you what to do but then I will have to go." I pulled out two bandit swords.


    "Catch!"


    I threw the swords at them and they caught them. They gripped the hilt and tried to imitate my stance. I chuckled. They were obviously amateurs; their stances were clumsy and they were off balance. They gripped the hilts with too much force and Yu had his sword held too high, whilst Mitsuki held it too low.


    I approached them and true to improve their stance. "Hold you sword, not too tightly, in two hands." They improved their grip. ''They''re faster to improve than I thought.''


    "Yu, lower your sword. Mitsuki, hold it higher. That''s better. Now. Stand shoulder apart, with your right foot further than the left.. No no. No that far... That''s great. Swing the sword once."


    They swung it. Their posture was good and their swinging action was also good; No wobbling when the sword swung down.


    "Alright. Now. I want you to swing it 100 times, without stopping. Make sure you take your time for each and every swing to be perfect. Then, run around a bit. Build up your stamina."


    They nodded. ''Good.''


    "I will sleep for a bit bit before we go to Magnolia."


    I logged off.


    The next time we set off, we would be heading straight to Magnolia.

 Chapter 28

    Our days passed quickly, and soon we were near the borders of Magnolia. The 80 odd miles here were taxing but enjoyable as I got to teach some students. Oh, and we fought so many of those Goddamn dire wolves I leveled up to 30! Anyway, I still had my mask of Hei, as well as my trusty katana. Three of the celestial spirit keys were with me and another was with the Mononobe siblings.


    They, during the three days that we spent travelling, learnt quickly. I taught them several stances, attacks and parries, as well as the odd counter.


    "So now that we''re within the borders of Magnolia, do you two wanna spar with me?" I asked them this question. They nodded and got up, drawing their weapons. They still had the swords I gave them; there were no alternatives so they had to make do.


    They took their stances. Yu prefered holding the sword above his head, point facing forward, whilst Mitsuki preferred the standard stance; sword held diagonally towards the opponent.


    "Come at me!"


    They obliged. Yu ran in front of Mitsuki and jumped in the air, blade held high. I jumped back as soon as his sword was close after he descended. I blocked a swipe from Mitsuki and palmed her temple.


    She stumbled and before I managed to finish her off Yu stepped in. I brought my sword down and Yu parried it. A loud, metallic clang resounded. Yu''s feet dug into the ground.


    I did not stall, trying to overpower Yu; Mitsuki had already recovered and tried to stab me. I dodged and heard a whistling sound. I tried to step back but I couldn''t. I glance down and see tree roots entangling themselves around my ankles. Try as I might, they don''t budge.


    Suddenly I hear a distinct whistling and ducked. A long green vine flew past my head. It tries to return for a second swing but I free myself from the roots. I run straight towards the siblings.


    Yu drops the vine and draws his sword. As soon as the vine hit the ground, I crumbles into dust.


    Mitsuki jumps.


    "If you face the heavens," she starts. I look at her and suddenly elbowed in the stomach by Yu. "You get hit by the Earth. And if you look to the Earth..."


    "Goddammit. I will fini-" I get kicked in the face by Mitsuki. "You get hit by the heavens." She finishes. ''Goddammit their heaven/earth combo is quite effective.''


    "Well done. I will get serious now." Their eyes show shock, yet they didn''t allow this to impede them. ''Good. My teachings worked.'' I ran full speed towards them.


    They held their stances, ready to defend against my attacks.


    I finished them off rather quickly. I ran right at them. Yu tried to cleave me in half with a horizontal swipe, but I jumped over his attack and knocked him unconscious with the back of my katana. My momentum carried my right into Mitsuki. We crashed into each other and we both tried to recover. Fortunately, I recovered first. I smashed my palm into her temple and watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.


    I stood up. "Hehe. Good job guys. You learnt well. Who knows, maybe next time you might beat me!" I say to the unconscious pair.


    Dylan started clapping. "Well done, sword instructor..."


    "Ah shut up! You know that annoys me!"


    He grinned. "But it''s so fun to annoy you." He replies and I smile at him whilst giving him the finger.


    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I gained a new title. Like Dylan kindly said, it is sword instructor. I gained this after I started teaching Yu and Mitsuki swordplay and their sword mastery had just gone up to beginner level 3 when the notification sounded. Dylan had been mocking me endlessly ever since. His only excuse was "I usually make fun of Ryan but since he''s not here I will have to make do with you." What a bastard. Anyway, I sat down and removed my mask to eat.


    A couple of minutes later, the siblings had finally woken up just as I had finished my food.


    "Looks like the two sleepers have awoken.." I smirked. They grumbled something about killing me 1000 times before sitting down to eat.


    I soon logged off. Tomorrow, I would finally reach Magnolia and meet Lucy.


    Taking the helmet off, I began to wonder: Why am I so adamant on meeting Lucy? I never wanted to meet any before, so why?


    ''Ah fuck it. Let''s see what types of monster I could kill.''


    I went on my computer and searched the internet for information about Magnolia. I found several pieces of information that made Magnolia differentiate from Konohoa.


    According to the internet, the enemies near it are of the same standard as the enemies near Konohoa, but that wasn''t the problem.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Apparently, several NPCs had been disappearing all over the town. The local guards had no idea what was going on and were on high alert. Their mutilated bodies were found later. Many a player had left due to the scares. The adventurer''s guild had issued a reward for the capture of the perpetrator of the crimes.


    ''Its like a freaking Jack the ripper again.''


    Third person POV


    It was a normal day in school. Many people were talking about Endless Online. Many spent a lot of time leveling up.


    For some, it was an achievement. For others, it was something to brag about and some people unfortunately thought themselves superior to people of lower levels.


    Others nearly talked about their experiences; their fights and their guilds. Some even talked about the phenomenon known as ''Kira.''


    John smirked. Only he and Hajime knew who Kira truly was. He went back to reading his book called Higurashi. It was incredibly interesting but then...


    A boy walked in arrogantly followed by two of his ''friends.'' John glanced up and saw that that boy bore a striking resemblance to Hajime. That boy''s name was Eizan. He was known to be so selfish and proud, he sometime didn''t realise the simplest of things. John  back to his book, uninterested. Eizan saw his uninterested attitude and was secretly angry. How dare that boy not show interest in him! He approached John with a swagger.


    "So John, what''s your level in Endless online?" He asked. Before John even replied he carried on talking, self-absorbed. "I am level 61 and I am in one of the best guilds in the game." He looked down at John and saw that the object of his anger was still uninterested in him. He grew even angrier. Eizan was, unfortunately, one of those people who had an elitist attitude. He valued level over anything and see HIM, a level 61, being ignored brought out his true personality.


    "So what is your level?" He asked once again, this time leaving time for John to answer.


    "30." Came the reply. Eizan was shocked. In this day and age, most people who played virtual reality games would grovel under a higher leveled person, but this...this level 30 dared to ignore him.   Eizan grew incredibly enraged; he grabbed the book John was reading and dangled it in front of his. His two lackeys behind him grinned; another person to bully.


    No-one tried to interfere. Not because of their fear of Eizan or his lackeys, but because of John.


    "What the hell is this?" Eizan said. "This doesn''t make any sense at all!" He held it higher. John, who was still sitting, couldn''t reach his interesting book.


    Eizan threw it over to one of his lackeys. That bully then threw it to the other, shouting "pass!" John stood up and walked over, determined to get his book back.


    The guy caught it and held it up, laughing. "Aahaha. Come and get it!" He threw the book over to Eizan as soon as John got close. Eizan caught it and laughed.


    "Ahaha." He spread his arms and carried on laughing. John''s face grew serious. Several students that knew John back away. They knew what was going to happen.


    Eizan, oblivious to the danger, carried on. "Over here John! Here! Here!" He laughed again. "What''s wrong John? Eh?" He heard whistling and saw... A chair headed straight towards his face.


    "ARGH!" He screamed when it hit him. He fell down with a bang, dropping the book. Most people would be content with this but not John. He picked a chair and dragged it over to Eizan''s body. John raised the chair.  Eizan''s friends stared John in horror and shock.


    He slammed it down, ignoring the cry of pain that rose from the lying body in front of him. He raised it once more and hit Eizan again and again and again. By the time he was finished, Eizan was on his side, crying holding his head with his hands.


    John dropped the chair and it fell with a clatter by his feet. He panted for a second to regain control of his emotions. He looked at Eizan with disgust and started talking, his voice serious.


    "Eizan, shut your mouth for a second."


    "Since you had the face as my best friend, I endured it for a while. But I''m just about fed up with that arrogant attitude of yours." Several other students crowed round the door, yet none approached.


    "The next time you decide to bully me, I won''t listen to any of your excuses. So, with that in mind..."


    "Nice to meet you."


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Hello. It''s me, Tealover! So. have any of you seen Higurashi no cano? It''s messed up and the inspiration for some of this chapter. Anyway. Here''s a question for you people:


    Care to guess who Lucy''s character is going to be?

 Chapter 29

    John POV


    "Care to explain what happened with Eizan?"


    In front of me was the school council president. She was called Michelle Nakiri and, you guessed it, she was Lucy''s sister. However, contrary to Lucy''s nice, quiet, personality, Michelle was always the one who started, and dominated, every conversation.


    She held quite the Spartan attitude which was demonstrated in every. Single. Assembly.


    "Well he started bullying me and I retaliated. His elitist attitude angered me. He saw that I was lower levels than him and tried to rub it in my face."


    "By retaliation, you mean smashing him with a chair several times, right?" She looked unimpressed with my answer.


    "I tried to be the smarter man by looking uninterested but instead he carried on. I simply gave what he deserved; I heard that he flaunted his level and bullied several other people. I punished him."


    "How he is punished is handled by the school." She sighed and rested her head on her hand. She studied me closely. "You really are a pig in clothing aren''t you?" I sighed. She tells that to everyone that didn''t meet her standards. I, for example, have been called this multiple times.


    Any ordinary person might think that her insult will make her unpopular, but no. She effectively brainwashes anyone near her. Only a few are resistant. Lucy, Hajime and I are to name a few.


    "Anyway," she said, rising. "Your punishment is -"


    Lucy suddenly burst through the door. "Are you alright John?" She suddenly hugged me form behind. I grew flustered, something soft was pressing into my back.


    "I-I''m fine. The real question you should ask is is the other guy alright." She pouted. "Who cares about that guy. He is the one who bullied you! He got what was coming to him!" I looked back to Michelle''s disapproving gaze so to say ''SEE! Even you sister agrees with me!''


    She kept the gaze. "As I was about to say, your punishment is a one week suspension." I widened my eyes. That means one week of playing! But also homework, BUT PLAYING FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK! Nice.


    Sighing, I got up to leave, and Lucy also followed me. "Wait." Michelle''s voice came from behind me. I turned round. "Don''t repeat that incident again." I nodded.


    "I understand."


    Lucy and I left and although we were out of the room, I could still feel Michelle''s gaze boring into me.


    Once we reached our classroom, Hajime greeted us. "Well, that happens to those who decide to try and bully John." He smirked. I looked away irritated. "Now, now. Don''t tease John. Or he might not help you next time." Lucy retaliated for me. "I am not so defenseless like last time." He snorted. "I have combat experience."


    "Endless online doesn''t count."


    "Then I have no combat experience." He looked embarrassed and we all laughed.


    "Oh yeah. Lucy, I am near Magnolia and will probably reach you soon. Mind telling me your name and where we will meet?"


    She pondered for a second. "I won''t tell you my name, but I want to meet near the city gates at dusk. Is that okay?"


    I sighed. Why won''t she tell me her name?!


    "Fine. Anyway. Let''s form a party once we meet. By the way, Hajime. Where are you?"


    He looked flustered. "Well, I, erm, I am in a place called Tokyo. Yeah, I know it''s Japan''s capital but is is a hell of a lot of differences. For one, there are man-eating monsters roaming the streets ant night. Some of the more powerful ones are active during the day. A lot of players have died to them."


    "So what are the monsters called." I was excited. It would be really interesting fighting these ''monsters.''


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.Hajime thought for a second before answering. "I believe they are called Ghouls."


    Lucy then interjected. "So what is your game name?" Hajime was about tap the side of his nose, signaling that I was his secret, but then he saw Lucy''s intense stare and gave. "My name is Kaneki. I am a level 40 Brawler, Librarian and I am just about to get my third job."


    "So what are you hoping to get as a third job? Besides, why did you get Librarian as a second job?"  I asked. Hajime pondered. "I wan to be a CCG recruit. As for why I got a Librarian, it was because it was either healer or Librarian. I wanted the rarer job sooo, yeah." I raised an eyebrow. "Any advantages?" Hajime shrugged. "Not that I know of currently but I will find out soon."


    Lucy narrowed her eyes. "What the hell is a CCQ recruit how do I get it?"


    "Oh, it is a job unique to Tokyo. It is a class that allows you to officially kill ghouls and receive rewards for it, instead of just dying." He smiled.


    Our teacher walked in and we had to separate. Sighing, I left.


    I logged back on and was greeted with a sword in my mouth. I widened my eyes. "Waah the hel are you doing!?!" I spluttered. Mitsuki, who was holding the sword, shrugged. "It was the only way to wake you up."


    "But A SWORD!?!"


    "We tried a stick, a water canteen and finally a sword."


    Don''t they know I won''t wake up no matter what if I am not logged on?


    "You know what? Fine. Just don''t do that again." I sighed. "Lets go to Magnolia."


    Dylan started walking and the siblings went in the middle. I followed and soon we see the city gates.


    "Woah." Mitsuki breaths. I have to agree with her; the massive city gates look awesome, even from 100 meters away. They were made out of stone, but it was their size that was impressive. The black gates gave the city slightly creepy look, but they complemented the defence and size of the walls.


    As we were walking up, the was a massive bang and part of the wall was smashed through; we could see the city that was on the other side!


    "What kind of power is needed for that?" Yu cried out.


    We ran the rest of the distance to the gate and we saw the outline of what caused the commotion.


    As the dust cleared, a lone figure emerged. We stood in shock, as the perpetrator stood in front of us.


    It was a girl. She had long, purple hair that was tied up using a purple bow into a ponytail and her eyes matched her hair colour. She wore a battle dress that looked as though someone replaced silk with armour on a ball gown, yet she looked as though she lived her entire life in it. The battle maiden wielded a broadsword her own height yet handled it with ease.


    "Beautiful." Were the only words I could mutter as she emerged.


    She noticed out party and looked at us with more hostility at us. She pointed her broad sword at me. Her voice sounded but what she said shocked me.


    "I see. So it''s true. You came here to kill me"


    Hello it''s me, Tealover. Can you guess who this is? And what is her name? Correct answer gets an imaginary cookie. ?

 Chapter 30

    Kira POV


    "Woah, woah we haven''t come here to kill you!" I frantically tried to save the situation. She was a higher level than me and I doubt I would last long against her.


    Dylan whistled. "She is level 50, so it would take a lot of you to beat her."


    "No!" She shouted. "You''re trying to kill me!" She jumped into the air and lifted her broadsword above her. "Shit. DODGE!" I shouted. We jumped away just in time as this crazed girl slammed her sword into the ground.


    Earth, dust and rock flew in all directions. One pebble grazed my arm but it had enough force to seriously graze it. Grimacing in pain, I withered the grass around myself to heal the wound.


    After some experimenting, I found out that wither was actually better than heal... As long as there were plants about.


    The warrior girl looked at us with disgust. "How dare you dodge! You need to stay still so I can kill you!" She shouted her  logical argument.


    "BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON''T WANT TO DIE!?!" I shouted back. She looked at me. ''Shit.'' I jumped to the side. A millisecond later her broadsword smashed the space where I was. I rolled out of her target area. Scrambling up, I faced her.


    "I DON''T CARE! YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!" she retorted. She raised her broadsword again, clearly intending to cleave me in half. It was brought down.


    "NO WE DIDN''T! YOU JUST ASSUMED IT!" I shouted back. The sword stopped a few centimeters above my mask. She had a ''I realised something'' expression on her face. "Oh. Sorry for the misunderstanding." She bowed, and I held up my hand.


    "Well it''s fine. You didn''t kill us now did you? So, uh, what''s your nam-"


    I didn''t manage to finish my sentence; a couple of players appeared. They wore angry expressions and were shouting something. Their swords were pointed towards the purple-loving girl. She bared her teeth.


    "These are the ones that tried to kill me." She brandished her broadsword and rushed them. "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"


    I watched in shock as she ran off. ''This girl is crazy.''


    Dylan put a hand on my shoulder. "Let''s explore the city. We should visit the guild to get money for the materials we harvested."


    I looked back at the crazy girl. She was cutting a guy in half. ''She''ll be fine.''


    We walked into the city. Our aim: TO SEE THE SIGHTS OF MAGNOLIA!


    Dylan looked as though he had been here many times before. The siblings, however, wore expressions of amazement as they marveled the city. ''They look like manga characters, with open mouths and wide eyes.


    They had a right to be amazed. ''They probably have never seen a city this large.'' We spent a couple of minutes trying to find the adventurers guild. Once we finally found it, I was shocked; it is so much larger than the one Konohoa.


    We walked in and many eyes turned towards us. I didn''t know if it was because of the my mask or the three NPCs accompanying me.


    Apparently, getting friendly with NPCs is not something everybody would do; many saw them as just bits of data, treated them as though they were only quest-givers or divulgers of great secrets. Players were not interested in their back-stories'', unless they held a quest. Some even abused NPCs.


    I walked up to the counter. In front of me was a girl (why are all receptionists girls?) who had a serious expression. She had black hair and she wore a white military style uniform. She also wore a headband with a single white bow on top.


    "Hello. I am Kagura and I will be your receptionist for today. Is there anything I could help you with?" She asked us. Her tone of voice clearly indicated that she was serious about her work.


    "Er... Yes. I would like to sell some weapons and some pelts. Could you please appraise them?"


    She motioned me to another room and I followed her in. The room was fairly large and had a wide area for appraising things. Kagura indicated that I should put everything on the stage.


    I went into my inventory and selected what I wanted. I pressed ''show'' and everything came out.


    Clatters of metal falling on the floor sounded the area. The bandits'' weapons were the first to emerge, followed by the pelts.


    We had kill many mobs over the days and Dylan insisted on skinning each and every one of them. It was an arduous task for the siblings, but I did it without question; you never k ow where this money would become useful.


    I looked at Kagura who was in the middle of appraising the great axe. I could tell she was very thorough in her analysis. I patiently waited for a few minutes as she inspected everything.


    Once she had finally finished, she approached me and told me how much it all cost.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!"Overall the weapons are second-rate whilst the pelts are very good. You will receive 1 gold for your troubles." Doing a ''not bad'' face, I followed her out of the room and into the main hall. Dylan and the siblings were talking to each other. Yu noticed me first.


    "So, how did the appraisal go?"


    "Not bad. Got one gold for it all."


    "Well I am not at all surprised. The amount of weapons and pelts would give you that amount. The guild doesn''t even question where you got it from. Handy, right?" Dylan interjected.


    "Oh well. Yu, Mitsuki. You should also sell your swords. We will get you some real weapons this time." They both widened their eyes at me and rushed off to Kagura.


    A few minutes later, they came back. "We both got three silvers for our weapons!" Mitsuki smiled. "Good. Let''s find the local armoury."


    They nodded, and followed me out.


    After an hour of walking, we finally found an armourer.


    "What do you want? This isn''t the place for kids." A youthful voice talked. The owner of the voice was a young man, around my age wearing something akin to traditional samurai clothing. A sheathed katana hung by his waist.


    "Don''t scare away new customers darling. Yellow and welcome to our armoury."


    "Yes! Welcome to out armoury!"


    Two voices sounded. One belonged to a red-head clothed iron armour that covered most important parts. I say most because most parts of the body were covered. I swear I could hear Dylan drooling behind me.


    The second voice belonged to a young girl who seemed to be their... Child? No. Wait. Not their child. These two before were human, but this one... Is an elf.


    Her two pointed ears alongside her long silver hair practically screamed ''I AM A STEREOTYPICAL ELF.''


    "We came her to find some melee weapons for these two." I motioned to Yu and Mitsuki. "Could you show me your wares?"


    He grunted and opened a curtain to another room. Yu and Mitsuki entered. Dylan and I tried both go in but the blacksmith stopped us. "Only they can choose their weapons. You wander around whilst they choose." I shrugged; I had to meet Lucy in a couple of minutes.


    I went out and turned to Dylan. "I have to meet someone I know. If you want, you can come, but if you don''t you can wander around." He pondered for a second. "I will go with you, but I will stay away from the person. Is it a girl?" He teased.


    "Yes." I answer straightforwardly; this was the best way to deal with annoying people.


    I found myself walking with Dylan to the gates. The sun was setting and the scene was beautiful. I walked outside the gates and waited.


    Third person POV


    Kira walked outside the gates and waited. On the streets, a certain girl was headed his way. She skipped whilst humming a tune, and her expression was that of ecstasy.


    ''I am finally going to meet John!'' She thought. She swung her broadsword around, scattering players and NPCs alike. She thankfully didn''t hit anything.


    This girl, you probably guessed it, was Lucy. She was the level 50 that Kira and his friends encountered earlier and she was currently on her way to meet Kira.


    "Ah. There are the gates." She was almost at the gates. She looked at the destruction she had caused earlier. ''I wonder if that had any repercussions. Oh well. John takes priority!''


    She skipped out of the city and her eyes met Kira''s at the same time. Her mind blanked; this was the same person she had attacked!


    "Lucy?" Kira''s voice shook her out of her stupor.


    "Yes John?" She smiled. "Sorry I attacked you earlier." He laughed and waved the misunderstanding off.


    Dylan was standing a couple meters away, and quietly thinking. ''I swear I can see the hearts in her eyes... How has this fucker not realising that she loves him!?!'' He cried miserably in his heart. ''This bastard is dense as fuck.''


    Kira, oblivious to Dylan''s pain, carried on talking with Lucy.


    "So, Lucy" he extended his hand. "I don''t believe that you and I have met in-game. My name is Kira. What is yours?"


    Lucy smiled an innocent smile. She shook Kira''s hand.


    "Tohka. Tohka Yatogami."


    Hello,it''s me, Tealover! So how do you like the meeting and this story?Any constructive criticism is welcome. Here''s another question: What should they do now?

 Chapter 31

    Kira POV


    Lucy, no, Tohka and I talked to each other for a while. She was a level 50 human. Her three classes were witch, warrior and berserker.


    "So what do you want to do now?" I asked Tohka. She immediately hugged my hand and, with sparkling eyes she told me


    "I want to go with you!" I paused. She looked downtrodden for a moment. I quickly gripped her hands. "Don''t worry. You can follow me and my friends." She smiled and hugged me. I stumbled and fell down. Tohka fell on top of me, still hugging me.


    She buried her head in my dire wolf fur coat, humming. Dylan widened his eyes and threw his hands up in the air. I, a martial artist, struggled to get out of her grip. Strong as I was, I could not get out; she was twenty levels higher than me and much stronger. I stretched my hand out to Dylan. "Help..." I wheezed.


    Dylan glanced at me, and then turned to walk away. "No! Don''t leave me! Heeelp! Heeelllp!"


    Unfortunately, no-one heard my cries.


    Two hours later....


    Once Tohka finally let go of me, I breathed a sigh of relief. I stood up groaning; ''She has such savage strength.''


    I took my mask and put it into my inventory. I also took my coat off. I was just wearing beginner clothing. Tohka was looking at me in a strange way. "What?" I asked her.


    "You... You managed to go a hundred miles and reach level 30... In level 1 clothing???" I nodded. Her eyes grew resolute. "I have decided. Those clothes are not worthy of you." She startled me. "Therefore, we must buy you some worthy clothes!" She grabbed my hand a dragged me into the city.


    "Wait what!"


    She had a firm look on her face; I had never seen this type of face. I sighed and accepted my fate.


    An hour later...


    I was earing some food with Tohka in a restaurant. I was busy eating and Tohka was also eating. I had been dragged around various stores before my aggressive friend in front of me found some armour that suited both my fighting style and her fashion sense. It was dark leather armour that was form fitting. I had a pair of iron greaves and shin guards. I also got some sturdy walking boots. However, I particularly liked the greaves; instead of just stopping at my wrist, the metal continued to form three, jagged triangles that gave my punches that bit extra piercing power. The store owner also said that the eviscerated edges also helped when disembowelling someone or something. ''I would have to test that...''


    Dylan had picked up both Yu and Mitsuki from the blacksmith. Yu had stayed true to the style I taught him but Mitsuki changed to a different weapon. It was a pike made entirety from one metal. Mitsuki named her new weapon ''Schneewalzer.'' I told them to go train with their new weapons to get used to them. However, Mitsuki and Yu, however, were currently staring at us fervently. I could practically hear the ''jiiiiiiii'' sound as they stared. They didn''t want food; I had already offered them and they refused.


    I put down my knife and fork. "That''s it." I was fed up with their stares. "Why are you staring at us?" Tohka also perked up, curious. The siblings looked at each other before answering.


    "Well, when we first met you, you were alone." I waited for them to continue. "Well, we thought you were a loner, so it''s surprising that you have someone next to you."


    "Aw come on! I have friends too! You just haven''t met them!"


    Mitsuki then timidly asked


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Were you not on a date?"


    "!?"


    I gaped in shock. Glancing at Tohka, I saw her face turn beet-red. I laughed nervously. Tohka stood up.


    "Nonononononononono, our relationship isn''t like that!" Tohka shouted. She sat down, still beet red from... Embarrassment? ''I guess it is amusing to tease her. She''s quite cute when she is embarrassed.''


    "So, uh guys and gals, do you wants to go dungeon crawling?" I asked them. We were walking to an inn. I had to log out and eat in real-life.


    "Yes!" Tohka excitedly shouted. Dylan grunted, signalling his approval and the siblings merely nodded. We reached an inn.


    Endless online was a little different from other virtual reality games in terms of logging off. Other games made the user disappear from the game, so there was no chance of the player getting robbed or killed whilst they were not logged on. However, if the player logged off in the midst of combat, they would be considered ''killed'' and the repercussions would be as though they were actually killed. Endless online, on the other hand, was unique. When a player logged off and they were not in combat, their body would still remain and could not move, as though it was sleeping. Thus players could be killed when they were not logged on and so logging off in a safe place was the norm. An inn was such a place.


    The inn Tohka selected was a large building. It looked quite old-fashioned but it did the job. It was painted entirely grey and it had a nice garden surrounded by a wall. Apparently many adventurers frequented it.


    "One room, two beds please." I told the innkeeper. I looked back and checked on Tohka. She was slightly red.... Nevermind. She was incredibly red. Wait, is that drool at the edge of her lips!?!


    She looked at me with a gaze I have never seen before. ''Damn those are getting frequent.'' I suddenly shiver under stare, as though some predator was looking at me...


    I looked away to the siblings and Dylan. "Two rooms. One for the pair here and another for that guy."


    The innkeeper, calculated the amount of money we needed to pay him.


    "Thirty silver for the night for each room." I reach to pay him fro all of us but was stopped by Dylan. "I''ll pay for myself."


    Shrugging I handed the innkeeper 60 silver. I got a good look at him. He was a kind-looking 40ish man. He had his light brown hair in a short military style haircut and he had round spectacles. He had blue eyes that sparkled with intelligence.


    I was about to go when I heard a young, childish voice as well as the sound of paws scrapping against a wooden floor.


    "Hello papa! Are these our new guests?" The dad looked at here affectionately.


    "Yes. Now be a dear and show these kind people to their rooms." She nodded enthusiastically and turned to face us.


    "Hello! My name is Nina Tucker and this is Alexander, my pet dog!" She pointed to the quite large white-furred dog beside her. Clearly he loved her more than anything else. ''They''re probably inseparable...''


    "Follow me and I shall show you to your rooms!" She shouted with resolution and proceeded to march to show us our rooms. The dog Alexander barked once and trotted after Nina.


    We soon reached our rooms, but the room that I was in with Tohka was last. She opened the door and I peeked inside; it was a snazzy room, with two beds a meter apart and a small bathroom. Nodding, pleased with the room, I faced Nina.


    "I forgot to introduce myself earlier." I held out my hand to Alexander and he sniffed it. "My name is Kira. I hope that we will be good guests."


    "Oh. Don''t worry. You and your girlfriend are good people. Alexander checked you and you passed his tes- miss your face is red. Do you have a fever?" I turned to look at Tohka and her beetroot face contrasted her purple hair.


    "Haha. No little girl. Our relationship is nothing like that. We are merely friends, are we not?" I looked at Tohka. She nodded quickly, still with a red face. I spoke to Nina.


    "Ah well. It has been a fun day but unfortunately Nina I am tired and I have to go to sleep. Thank you for the friendliness." I patted Alexander and walked inside the room. Lucy quickly followed suit.


    Nina waved us a goodnight''s sleep and Alexander barked and wagged his tail. "Night. Don''t let the bed bugs bite."


    I got into bed. Lucy did the same and she faced me. "See you tomorrow." I tell her as I log off.


    Hello it''s me-Tealover! I did this chapter to just introduce Lucy''s character fully. I also found it funny thinking of ways to tease her.


    But on a darker note, I just had to put the Full Metal Alchemist reference in there with the mention of hotels. Those of you who have seen the Tuckers, the next couple of chapters are for you. Good luck surviving the nostalgia...

 Chapter 32

    Third person POV


    "Haha. Look at that guy. He is walking around with an NPC! Although the girl seems pretty. Her purple hair is nice."


    "He looks as though he is taking that NPC on a date! Haha!"


    These sorts of comments were directed to a particular pair that were walking around the city. One had black hair and was wearing casual clothing; these were not the clothes that person usually wore. He was wearing them specially for this occasion.


    The other person, the NPC, was a girl. She was wearing a white one-piece dress that contrasted her purple hair. Her red glasses complemented the smiles that she showed to the person walking beside her.


    "Wow. Tokyo is so nice Rize. I never seen some of the parts that you showed me! I am very thankful to you." Her friend complemented the woman.


    "Well I am glad you enjoyed it." She lightly laughed; the person next to her was charmed. She turned to him with upturned eyes. "I am sorry if this inconveniences you, but could you walk me home?"


    The boy stopped and lightly smiled. "Sure. Where do you live?"


    She smiled and pointed to an alleyway.  "I live through here. Follow me, Kaneki..."


    He followed her into the alleyway...


    Less than a minute later shouts and screams came from the alleyway. A sudden loud metallic clang and then silence.


    Kira POV


    I logged onto Endless online and was greeted with a strange notification.


    *Ding* Congratulations to player Kaneki! They are the first player to have unlocked the perquisites for race change: One-eyed ghoul!


    ''Wait.. isn''t that Hajime!?!'' How did my best friend, who called himself a ''casual'' gamer, be the first player to ever change race!?


    Not waiting for my week expulsion to end, I logged off and called Hajime.


    "Hi John. How''s it going?"


    "Not bad, although that isn''t my reason for calling. How did you get a race change!?"


    He sighed before answering. I could imagine him with closed eyes. "It was kinda embarrassing how I got it. Remember how I told you about the ghouls?"


    "uhuh..." I listen carefully.


    "Well they look like humans and they are very good at hiding themselves. Well I asked an NPC to act as a guide for me around Tokyo."


    ... First death flag...


    "At the end of the tour, she asked me if I wanted to go on a date. I said yes. I was curious."


    Second death flag...


    "It was rather all fun, and it was getting dark, so she asked me to escort her home."


    If it is a date and it ain''t a romance anime... You''re gonna die. Third death flag...


    "So I then asked her where her home was and she pointed to an alleyway and said her home was near there."


    Fourth and most evident death flag...


    "I followed her and she suddenly hugged me. I was happy at first until..."


    "Until what?"


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings."Until she bit a chunk of my shoulder off..."


    "Well... Shit."


    "I know right? I was bleeding out and this ghoul, complete with black eyes and red iris, chased me. Out her fucking back some red shit burst out. Apparently it''s called ''kagune.'' Anyway, I was running for my life whilst she was chasing me laughing like a maniac."


    "..."


    "In the end, a ran into a building site and she followed me. I ran under a crane and attacked me using her red tentacle kagune. I thought I was going to die but then..."


    "What?"


    "Some wires snapped, and the steel beams that the crane was holding fell down on the ghoul that was chasing me. I lost consciousness due to blood loss and shock but I didn''t die! Apparently, whilst I was out, some people found me and transferred me to a hospital. It was too late to save the ghoul."


    "Alright but how is this got to do with the race change?" I was getting impatient.


    "I''m getting there. I was about to die but thankfully healers transferred some the ghoul''s organs into me! And when I woke up I received the notification that my race had changed..."


    "Well damn that is one weird perquisite. Do you think you can use the kagune now?"


    "I doubt it but we will see. Anyway, I have to go now. Meet you later."


    "Bye."


    I felt sorry for Hajime. He had gone through such an extreme betrayal. ''Oh well. Better get back to playing. Lucy might be up already.''


    I log back on and see a still-sleeping Tohka. Her purple hair was covering most of her face. The problem was, she was on my bed...


    I quietly got up. I smiled. She was still in her battle dress. ''How is that comfortable to sleep in?''


    I opened the door to leave when suddenly Tohka ''woke'' up."Wah.. Where are you going?" She asked in a panicked voice.


    "Oh you''ve logged on. I was going to level grind and hopefully resurrect Gabumon as well. Do you want to come?"


    "Yes!" She shouted, jumping out of bed. Her broadsword suddenly appeared and she hoisted it on her shoulder.


    "I am ready to kill!"


    It seemed wrong for a girl like Tohka to say those words. She must have looked quite threatening to some, but for me she looked cute. I laughed. "Well at least wait until we are in the woods. We don''t want to break something in the city now do we?"


    She laughed as though remembering something embarrassing. Her eyes drifted to the broken city wall as she put her broadsword away.


    "Well, let''s go and wake up Dylan and the siblings." I held the door open for her into the corridor.


    As we walked I asked her where we could resurrect Gabumon. "Well I heard that you need to pay a hefty fine to the local church of about fifty silver." I looked at how much money inhad left.


    99 silver. I had spent quite a bit to buy the armour I wore now, but I still had enough money to resurrect Gabumon. "Let''s go Tohka. We will get Gabumon and then wake up the others."


    I followed her into the corridor. We were near the exit when we came across Nina and Alexander.


    "Hello there! She greeted us. Alexander barked once before walking up to us. "Morning Nina." I returned the greeting as I petted Alexander''s head. "So how was our inn? Good, right?" Nina asked us with gleaming eyes. I nodded with a smile on my face.


    "We have to go, but we will return Nina. See you later."


    "Bye." Tohka and I waved at Nina as we exited the inn.


    We walked together to the church, talking about things that we usually did in real life. We also talked about our different fighting styles. I used martial arts and skill to fight but Tohka merely swung her sword at the first thing in front of her.


    We reached the church without a problem. A young man in a robe greeted us. "Hello I am Alexander Anderson and how may I help you?" He seemed like a nice person, with his white priest robe and... WAIT ARE THOSE BAYONETS!?!!


    "Uhh. I would like to resurrect my pet. Where do I go to do this?" He smiled.


    "Follow me, I will show you where and how."


    He led us to a discrete room at the back of the church. In the middle of the room the was an altar that looked exactly like the one people resurrect on. "You first have to pay 50 silvers, then I will initiate the ritual." I sighed and coughed up the money. He pocketed the money and went up to the altar. He raised his arms and then began muttering a spell in a language I didn''t know.


    After a minute, a bright light shone in the middle of it all. It was so bright I had to cover my eyes! Once the light had faded, A sleeping Gabumon lay there. "He is just sleeping right now and wake up shortly. I would imagine it would be better if you take him to your hotel and wait for him to wake up."


    I nodded and picked Gabumon up, princess style. I turned to face Tohka and she was conversing with Father Anderson. He nodded and she gave him some money. ''Ahh. She wants to get her pet back.''


    Father Anderson once again raised his hands and muttered the same spell. Once again the bright light shone and in the middle of it all lay a sleeping...

 Chapter 33

    In front of me was a sleeping black cat. It looked normal apart from its two tails, as well as two small horns on its head. It had a white patch of fur on its belly. It looked content, purring.


    Tohka picked up her pet and checked that it was breathing. She held it her arms, as though it was a baby.


    "So what is your pet cat called?" I asked Tohka. Her purple battle dress and hair was bouncing up and down as she walked.


    "His name is Kuro. He may seem like a pet, but actually he is my familiar."


    "What''s a familiar?" This was the first time I had heard of the term.


    "So you know I have the class ''witch'' right? Well witches don''t have pets, they have familiar. They help us just like normal pets, except they also increase the damage or decrease the spell casting of a particular element. Kuro is darkness."


    I smiled. "Quite the impressive pet. Well done Tohka." She beamed, happy with the praise. "I know right! But what about your pet. He seems to be a cross between a unicorn and a dog..." She commented embarrassed about my pet. I laughed.


    "Well, you''re not wrong there. His name is Gabumon and... I don''t exactly know what he is, but he is awesome. He could kill a bear by himself."


    "Wow. My familiar focuses on speed; he once took out a level 20 monkey."


    I whistled, impressed. "Awesome. Let''s wake everyone up and do dungeon crawling." She nodded in agreement.


    We entered the inn and we greeted the innkeeper. He nodded in response.


    We went to our room, making the floorboards creak with the weight of Gabumon and Kuro.


    Once we got our rooms, we placed our pets on our beds, allowing them to comfortably wake up. "Tohka, please go and get the others, I will wake these two up."


    "No." She replied. "I have to wake Kuro up otherwise he goes berserk." I nodded. "Then let''s both wake them up at the same time." She nodded and gently shook Kuro. I did the same to Gabumon.


    After about three shakes, Gabumon sleepily opened his eyes. "Waah, what''s happening? Where am I?"


    I comforted him; his last memory was probably pain. "You''re alright now; you''re in a safe place."


    He suddenly opened his eyes wide and hugged me, causing me to almost be crushed by his grip.


    "What the- Argh!" I shouted. He started brawling from happiness. "Getoffofme!" I managed to glance at Tohka; she was also being strangled by Kuro who was crying.


    "It''s alright Gabumon. Let''s go get back your level and make you evolve." His eyes shined brightly with determination. "Yes!"


    Half an hour later the entire party composing of myself, Gabumon, Lucy, Kuro, Dylan, Yu and Mitsuki was outside the city. We all were in battle gear and were confidently walking. Well, apart from Dylan. He was whistling and looking side to side absent-mindedly. ''Well I guess he deserves it.''


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.We just had finished killing a wolf pack when suddenly Dylan spoke up.


    "Hey does anyone want to go to an actual dungeon?" I looked back at him. This was the one of the few times he had actually said something useful. "Sure. What is it called and where is it?"


    "Hmm. It is called the tower of the Orario and it is three days travel by carriage."


    "How much does a carriage cost?" He had a sheepish face. "It costs ten gold for the entire journey." The jaws of everyone in the party dropped at the price."THAT''S WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!" Yu shouted what everyone but Dylan was thinking.


    "Don''t worry. I will pay for it." We all breathed a sigh of relief. "So Dylan, are the coaches like taxis; you take one and you go or are they like coaches; you pay, wait a bit and then go at a set time?"


    "I have no idea what taxis and coaches are but they leave at set intervals. I believe the next one is tomorrow." I looked around and everyone looked as though they wanted to go.


    "Fine. We will go and book the carriage after we finish for the day. So, for now let''s go and kill some mobs." We all agreed. "Oh yeah, Dylan."


    "What?"


    "Will Ryan be going with us? We will need a full party."


    "Oh, him?" He paused for a second before raising his index finger into the sky. "Message to: Ryan. Come to tower of Orario and form a party with me and Kira. See you in four days." A ball of light formed the size of a tennis ball on his finger and shot of into the sky. "Now he will come."


    I nodded. "LET''S GO!"


    We started to hunt mobs systematically, with bears, monkeys, treants and entire packs dire wolves falling in the span of a few minutes. We were hunting even when it got dark. Most people would have given up by now, but not us. It got so easy, we decided to split up to make it more of a challenge. We thought that creatures in the night were not that much more powerful. We were wrong.


    Just like in many RPG games, enemies got way stronger at night and many players who could beat enemies during the day fell to the same mobs at night. Endless online was the slightly different. The monsters didn''t just gain stat points; they actually transformed. It was an ugly process.


    I rolled to the side as a dire wolf lunged at me. I swung my katana. The moonlight glinted orange as I beheaded the wolf. I turned to face the second wolf and stopped. It looked like it was mutating.


    Third person POV


    Kira stared as the dire wolf in front of him began to transform.


    It howled as though in pain. Its flesh and bones began to tear and repair at an incredible speed. Its snout lengthened and enlarged, with drool dripping from huge canines. Its fur somehow became darker. Once the transformation finished, it howled. Soon, all the wolves in the vicinity were howling. It glared at me with hateful eyes.


    Level 30 night dire wolf


    Looking at its status, I could only say one sentence.


    "Well...shit."

 Chapter 34

    Third person POV


    Kira stared at the night dire wolf. Clearly it was on a whole different level than day dire wolves; six levels in fact. It growled in anger at the human that dared kill its brethren.


    "COME AT ME!" Kira grew tired of waiting. The wolf ran right at him, hoping to knock him down and finishing him off quickly. "Now, Gabumon!" Kira shouted. He had his pet prepare to fire his blue flames at the beast before hand and now it was beginning to pay off.


    Gabumon opened his mouth and fired his ''blue blaster.'' It hit the wolf right in the face.


    ''It worked!'' Kira naively thought. The wolf landed but other than looking pissed off it was otherwise unperturbed. ''Shit.''


    "Hide, Gabumon. You''ve done your part!" Kira readied his sword and charged at the flaming wolf.


    He tried to maim it by stabbing through its paw but it managed to lift it just in time. Unfazed, Kira swung his katana upwards, cutting through the ankle of the wolf.


    Blood spurted, covering the orange blade. Kira smiled as the wolf yelped in pain and tried to run away from him. "Where do you think you''re going?" He snarled at the limping wolf. He set his blade alight.


    The wolf snarled, clearly afraid of the fire. Kira meanwhile, merely ran at the beast. He jumped a two meters from the beast''s open mouth and Kira plunged his burning sword in-between the eyes of the wolf.


    With a cry, it fell down dead.


    *Ding* Congratulations! You have reached level 31! Please assign stat points. Stat points available: 15


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Please put three each into strength, agility, dexterity, stamina and intelligence." Kira said with a satisfied voice.


    *Ding* "What now?"


    Congratulations! Your pet has level up to 22! Gabumon will evolve into Garurumon!


    Kira turned round and saw a pleased looking Gabumon. "I made it!" He examined as he suddenly began to glow with a bright light. Kira shielded his eyes.


    Once he opened them, he gasped in shock; standing in front of him was a giant wolf with fur of various shades of blue. It had claws the size of Kira''s face and teeth the size of his hands. Its tail wagged in happiness. "Garurumon?" Kira questioned the blue wolf in front of him. The wolf merely smiled, showing sharp canines. "Can I kill some bears to see how good I am?" A new, gruff voice came from the wolf. It still had Gabumon''s attitude. Kira smiled.


    "Sure you can, but let''s go together; let''s see how good of a battle pet you are!" With that, Kira jumped on Garurumon back.


    The giant wolf howled and ran off, leaving the corpses of the wolf pack in its wake.


    Third Person POV


    A single carriage sped through a grey highway. It was obviously going at the horses maximum speed. However, instead of carrying valuables, its occupant was one person.


    Two figures spied the fast carriage; one was a male is a suit and a tophat, the other a girl with an umbrella


    The Lord Millennium is is search of you


    Looking for his heart now, have you heard the news?


    Maybe you stole it from him, I''ll see if it''s true


    Who is it that has my heart? I will find you soon...


    Sorry for not posting yesterday. Real life problems came up and i had to make this chapter in a jiffy. Hopefully the next chapter is going to be more awesome. Until next time!

 Chapter 35

    Lucy''s POV


    Goddammit Kira! I had finally met him in Endless online but then he decides to split up! "GODDAMMIT!" I screamed as I beheaded a wolf.


    ''WHY DID WE HAVE TO SEPARATE! I WAS SO CLOSE!''


    By now, seeing the enraged girl eyeing them to spend her rage on them, the wolf pack tried to flee, only to be blocked by a giant two-tailed cat. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU''RE GOING!?!" I screamed as I rushed them.


    Whimpers of pain resounded throughout the night.


    Kira POV


    I suddenly sneezed. "Woah. Endless online can make people sneeze! Quite realistic." I ducked under a tree branch. And another one.


    I was mounted on top of Garurumon. I was gripping his back fur, worried that I was going to fall off; he was fast and nimble, even in the forest.


    We suddenly came across a wolf pack that used to be level 12. Now they were level 18. "They are perfect for your first fight Garurumon." He growled in agreement.


    The wolves were sleeping in a circle, completely oblivious to our presence. Garurumon looked as though he was ready to go in and start slashing. "Wait." Hearing my instruction, he was puzzled. Why did he have to wait?


    I pointed upwards. "Jump." His eyes widened and his face turned into a smile, revealing his canines. He knew what I had meant. He turned away and trotted a few meters back. I sheathed my Heaven''s wheel and gripped Garurumon''s fur even harder. "Kill." With that one instruction, my pet ran and jumped into the sky.


    "YEAAAHHH!" Garurumon and I roared as we went into the air.


    The wolves woke up confused; they knew that there were enemies... But where were they?


    Schink


    Their question was answers when Garurumon landed on two of them. His claws turned one into the wolf equivalent of sliced bread whilst the other wolf just... Fell apart.


    "Pretty sharp claws. Nice one Garurumon." I complemented Garurumon and he stepped out of the blood puddles.


    I unsheathed my katana and pressed my legs into Garurmon''s side. I do not want to fall off in this situation.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.The wolves snarled, clearly not pleased with our introduction. Garurumon snarled back.


    Third person POV


    A wolf jumped at Garurumon, aiming for his eyes. Garurumon stepped back and, as the wolf landed in front of him, opened his mouth around the head of the beast. The last thing that the wolf managed to do was widen his eyes as Garumon''s mouth closed, biting the entire head off.


    The wolves learnt not to attack the head and opted to disable him first before finishing Garurumon off as he bled out.


    An over-eager wolf lunged at Gabumon''s side, forgetting about the human seated on top. An orange blade flashed and the wolf''s head separated in two; from the tip of the snout to the back of the head. The corpse landed on the ground with a thump.


    The remaining wolves tensed, unsure of themselves. Garurumon, on the other hand, was not one to stand around whilst the four remaining wolves pondered their chances of success. Neither was Kira.


    Garurumon leaped at the closest wolf, turning it into mush as his claws sliced thought flesh easily. Kira fired off three lightning bolts, paralyzing the wolves. They were mercilessly killed.


    Kira then proceeded to skin them; he needed the money, but getting something usable out of sliced wolf was hard, but he somehow managed......


    "Alrighty. Now we just have to clean ourselves; we''re covered in wolf blood. Come on Garurumon. We have to meet the others soon."


    "Alright. Jump on and we will get there in a jiffy." Kira laughed as he spoke. He jumped on and as soon as he landed, they were off.


    It took them ten minutes to get to the meeting point, just outside the city. Dylan, Yu and Mitsuki were already there and waiting.


    Yu and Mitsuki were both now level 31, which impressed Kira. What impressed them, was the fact that Kira was riding a giant wolf.


    "Where did you get that?" They questioned. "Would you believe that this is Gabumon''s evolved form?" They widened their eyes in realisation.


    They talked for a bit, waiting for Tohka to show with Kuro. It was getting dark and Kira needed to log off soon. ''Where is Tohka?'' They all the same question running through their minds.

 Chapter 36

    Kira POV


    We waited for a bit before I grew tired of waiting. "Hey guys. Let''s go find her." They all nodded and looked at Garurumon expectantly. "Could you sniff her out please?" Dylan asked. Garurumon shrugged and started to pad into the forest. We followed, hands on our weapons.


    We had walked for about ten minutes before we heard an ear-piercing screech.


    "The fuck''s that?" Yu asked what everyone was thinking. "Does it matter? It''s in Tohka''s direction!" Garurumon growled.


    "Shit. Let''s hurry!"


    We ran, weapons ready.


    Third  POV


    A large explosion of dirt and rock came from the direction they were running from. ''Shit.'' Kira and his rest of the party were almost blown away. In fact, the mask of Hei cracked, and a piece of mask fell off, exposing part of Kira''s face. ''Well that''s ten strength and agility gone.'' Kira mourned the passing of his mask.


    Once the dusk cleared, they opened their eyes and what they saw shocked them: A large crater, and, in the middle of it all, stood Tohka and a... thing....


    It had a long reptilian tail and a large furry body.... ''Wait.'' Kira thought. ''Is that not a hamster?!'' The creature that Tohka was fighting was an actual giant hamster with a scaly tail!


    "You are a valiant opponent to have withstood my attacks girl." Kira widened his eyes. ''It could talk!''


    Tohka looked perfectly fine, even though she had survived the attack that had caused the giant crater they were standing in. She lifted her broad sword and pointed it at the hamster. "Shut up you  so called ''Lord of the forest.'' You are a mere animal. Now die!" She screamed as she rushed the hamster.


    The beast dodged and used its tail as a whip to retaliate. Tohka used the flat side of the blade to parry and the tail slid off, causing sparks. She grimaced.


    Yu turned to Kira. "Oi oi oi. What should we do? Should we help her?" Kira took off his mask; it was broken and now useless.


    His eyes glazed over as he thought for a moment. "Yes yes, we should do that." He murmured. His eyes refocused.


    "We should ask her if she needs help, and I she does, then kill the beast. If she doesn''t, we will just have to wait and see the outcome."


    Yu and Mitsuki had confused expressions whilst Dylan merely nodded. Kira supped his mouth. "OI! LUCY!" Tohka parried another tail whip before answering. "WHAT?!!?"


    "DO YOU NEED ANY HELP?"


    "NO! I WILL HANDLE THIS MYSELF!" She screamed back at him. Kira shrugged. "Well let''s enjoy the show. He sheathed his katana and sat down, pulling out some food to fill his sanity bar. Dylan followed. Yu and Mitsuki glanced at each other and then slowly sat down.


    "You overestimate yourself, if you think you can beat me yourself." The hamster saw them sit down in the distance.


    "Shut up you giant hamster." Tohka swung her broadsword at the him.


    It blocked using its scaly tail. Tohka jumped back and stabbed her sword into the ground. The hamster reared back, confused. Why did she abandon her weapon?


    "Since I cannot hit you with my small broadsword, I will hit with my big sword!" Tohka gripped her broadsword and raised it into the sky.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "Halvanhelev!"


    A giant object came down from the sky and crashed in front of Tohka. Rocks and dirt flew yet she was unaffected.


    The object in question was a giant throne. It was made out of a gold and silver-like material. It was mesmerizing.


    "What is that going to do girl?" The hamster mocked her.


    Tohka didn''t reply. She cleaved the throne in half. "What the?" Kira was surprised. ''What is her trump card?''


    The throne broke apart into pieces. The hamster laughed. "So is that your secret weapon!? Ahaha- wait, what?!"


    The pieces were covering Tohka''s sword, making forming a blade out of the pieces. As the pieces kept joining together, the sword became larger and larger. ''I see what she meant by her words.'' Kira smiled. The broadsword was now a single edged sword that was over ten meters on length. Dylan whistled. "She must like long things." Everyone glared at him. "Alright alright I''m sorry I''m sorry!" He held up his hands.


    Tohka smiled and laughed. "DIE YOU ANIMAL!" She swung it in a wide arc, slicing trees and rocks in half.


    "That won''t help you!" The hamster howled and raised his tail to block Tohka.


    The hamster''s scaly tail and Tohka''s sword connected.


    A large clang sounded as metal grinded against scale. A force made made Kira fall over. ''Is she going to win?''


    "Haha see! Your weapon is useless against the great me!"


    Tohka did not give up and instead gave way to the tail''s pushing. "What?"


    The tail slammed into the ground and Tohka spun round in a circle and, using the momentum of the spin, hit the hamster with the back of her blade.


    Kira and Dylan both winced at the thought of being hit that way. The hamster didn''t need to imagine: He was actually launched by the impact.


    It flew for several meters before crashing down against a sturdy oak. Coughing up blood, it tried to stand up.


    "Stay down bitch." Tohka kicked the hamster in the face. It slammed against the oak, bleeding from its mouth.


    "Die." With that single word that destroyed all argument, Tohka lifted her sword and swung it down.


    Her blade slammed into the ground, cleaving the hamster in two. She also uprooted the tree and caused a second crater to be formed.


    Kira whistled. Tohka was standing in the middle of a barren crater with a giant monster cleave in half. Its two piece of body lay an few meters apart with blood covering everything in the vicinity, including Tohka.


    She suddenly clapped and jumped in the air, ecstatic for some reason. Dylan nodded, impressed.


    "She leveled up."


    Hello readers, it''s me Tealover. So you may have read my rant about the fact that i don not post during holidays. Unfortunately, it is still true... Fear not, i will post everything like I did last time. I will do another anime-included list after chapter 40.


    See you people later!

 Chapter 37

    Third person POV


    Kira started clapping. "Well done Tohka on leveling up!"


    She jumped, and began walking towards them. The pieces of the broken throne were once again breaking off and dissolving into nothing as she walked.


    By the time she reached Kira''s party, her broadsword had returned.


    "Well done, but we have to go back and reserve the carriage now." Dylan warned the group. "Oh  yeah. Let''s go guys." Kira started running to the city and the rest of them followed suit.


    Kira POV


    We arrived quickly and got into the city. Once we entered the city, Garurumon devolved into Gabumon and shrunk, managing to sit on my shoulder. "Don''t worry I will evolve back into Garurumon once we get out of the city." He said, noticing my worried expression. I turned to Dylan.


    "So. Where are the carriages?"


    "Follow me."


    We walked in the darkness, but soon arrived at an illuminated building. Dylan strode in with confidence. Yu, Mitsuki, Tohka and I hesitated but then swiftly entered.


    "Hello and welcome to Phantomhive carriages!" A childish voice came from the darkness. We all looked at the direction from where the sound came from.


    A child, younger than Tohka and I came out from the darkness. A tall and quiet butler also emerged.


    "We would like to rent a carriage to the tower of Orario. We would like to go as soon as possible but we do not mind staying the night." Dylan talked to the child. Apparently he was in charge.


    The kid wore an eye patch and clothing looking like something out of Victorian London. The butler was wearing standard butler clothing, as seen in anime and real life. ''His name is probably Sebastian...''


    "Do you need to travel in your group, or do you not mind traveling with other passengers?" The child asked. "We don''t mind." Dylan replied.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.The kid then pondered for a bit. "Sebastian" He said and the butler straightened.


    ''I fucking CALLED IT!''


    "Please bring out the contracts." The butler bowed. "Yes my lord." With a wave of his hand a piece of paper appeared and the kid studied it before turning to Dylan. "There is a mixed carriage that you can fit and get to Orario in three days. Will that suit you?" We nodded. We turned to leave. Dylan only narrowed his eyes, looking at the butler. "May I ask why someone of your kind is serving a child, demon?"


    We stopped at the word ''demon.'' The butler merely smiled.


    "He and I have a contract. Do not worry. I will not harm you or your friends unless my contracted commands it. Does that ease your nerves?" Dylan nodded before turning to leave.


    He stopped at the door. ''What now?'' I thought.


    "I have one other question." The demon and the kid perked up. "Do you know who is behind the recent mutilated bodies?"


    Tohka and I both glanced at each other; she and I had both heard about them but nobody knew who the perpetrator was.


    "No." This time the kid answered.


    "I understand."


    We left the building and headed for the inn. Nina greeted us as we came in.


    "Hello guys!" Alexander barked next to her. We all smiled at the energetic pair.


    "We are going to sleep Nina. Make sure you do the same." I warned her. Kids shouldn''t stay up this late, especially with the serial killer around. "Yes!" She nodded and ran off, hopefully to her room.


    As I watched her go, her father emerged from a door. He looked slightly tired but still kept a light smile.


    "Alright. We will go to sleep. Goodnight everyone." Dylan broke the silence.


    With that, we all logged off.

 Chapter 38

    Kira POV


    Tohka and I said goodnight to each other and logged off to sleep in the real world.


    As I lay in my bed, I began to ponder: Who was behind all the killings. Why did they have to kill all of those people?


    I woke up the next day quite early and decided to play a bit of Endless online. Logging back on, I decided to head to a nearby library.


    I woke up and saw Tohka resting. ''Why is she on my bed again?'' I got up, snacked on a sandwich and went out the door.


    "Morning." The innkeeper said to me as I walked out.


    "Good morning Mr...?"


    "Oh right. Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Shou Tucker and I am Nina''s father."


    "Well, my name is Kira. Nice to meet you Mr. Tucker." We walked together and almost bumped into Alexander.


    "Good morning there Alexander." I patted his head. "Oh, by the way, Mr. Tucker, do you know where the nearest library is?" He smiled.


    "Well in actuality the inn has a library. Do you want to see it?" I nodded and followed him.


    As we walked I found out quite a lot of things about Shou Tucker. He had gotten the position as innkeeper two years ago and had lived with his daughter ever since. His wife had left him and instead went to live with her parents. He was an innkeeper, but also a state alchemist.


    "I have never heard of ''state'' alchemists. What are they?"


    "Well they are people with the ability to transmute matter. The ''state'' indicates that they have a military position. We receive lots of benefits, but every year we have to submit an assessment, and if we fail two years in a row, we lose our position and thus our home. I need to pass this year''s assessment no matter what."


    I patted his shoulder. "Don''t worry Mr. Tucker, you''ll think of something great."


    "I hope so. Anyway," he opened a door. "This is the library. It contains a lot of information on alchemy as well, so feel free to knock yourself out."


    "Thank you. I will." I smile and reach out to a book. Shou nods and closes the door.


    I look at the book I had just picked.


    Alchemy and its basics


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.I sat down and started to read.


    The first thing to know about alchemy is NEVER to fiddle with human life. That is considered taboo and, if one attempts such a thing, they will  may lose body parts or even die.


    Alchemy usually works with the help of a magic circle, and it has to be created perfectly otherwise it will not work. These circles can be made using anything, from the popular chalk or just having inscriptions on gloves that state alchemists wear. One memorable inscription was drawn in blood on a the users blood. However, do not attempt to draw unless one has experience in drawing them.


    Once a circle is drawn, the person may start to activate the transmutation. This takes matter from one object and uses it to create the desired object. Naturally, if there is not enough matter for the object to fully be created, then the transformation will stop. This means that if the object in mind is denser, then more matter is used to transmute.


    "I see. So an alchemist would fight by using imagination. Interesting."


    A shadow fell over me. ''What th-'' A giant furball fell on me, sending us both to the ground.


    "Yay! Let''s play Kira!" A childish voice came from on top of me. "Alexander, get off of Kira so he can play with us."


    I smiled as Alexander barked and got off me. "Hey Nina. You''re up early."


    She shook her head at me. "No I am not. You''ve been reading daddy''s books for a long time now. Your friends went looking for you!"


    The door opened and Dylan walked in. ''Speak of the devil and he shall appear.''


    "Hi."


    "Were you here the entire time?"


    "Err.. Yeah. I was reading the books here."


    He smirked. "Come on, let''s go hunting. We got to spend our time leveling up now don''t we?"


    I sighed and put the book back on the shelf. Just as I was about to go I felt a tugging on my cloak; it was Nina.


    "Can we play after you come back?" She timidly asked. I smiled.


    "Sure. Wait for us."


    "Yes!" She beamed.

 Chapter 39

    Kira POV


    Once we had finished hunting, I went to play with Nina. She was quite the energetic child, and I ended up playing with her and Alexander for a long time. We played chase and slide.


    "Hey, Kira!" Nina called out to me as I was leaving. "What?"


    "Can I call you onii-chan?" I paused at the thought. It was not the first time I had been called this; I have a younger sister and Lucy also used to call me that until she found out we were the same age.


    I smiled. "Sure." Closing the door on her grinning face, I went out of the library.


    "-nd remember. Tomorrow is the last day of the assignment." A man in blue told Mr. Shou and left. I approached him.


    "Was that a person from the state alchemists?" He sighed dejectedly. "Yes. As you probably heard, I have until tomorrow to hand in my research. Although I have an idea, it''s quite risky." He sighed again.


    "Don''t worry. Like I said before, I am sure what you will hand in will be shocking." I patted his shoulder. "I hope that whatever happens, will you show me your research tomorrow?"


    He lightly smiled. "Sure." I nodded my thanks and left to log off. Nina came running to her father. "Hey Nina." She smiled. "What daddy?"


    "Do you want to play with daddy tonight?" She gasped as though it was the most wonderful thing in the entire world. "Yes!"


    I smiled at them. Shou was a good parent.


    I woke up. It was a Monday, as well as the first week of my suspension. I sighed and looked around my room. With nothing to do, I logged onto Endless online.


    I stared at the intricate patterns on the ceiling. ''Tomorrow is the day we leave.'' I got up. ''Better increase my intelligence and wisdom stat. Mr. Tucker should also have his research done by the end of the day.


    Walking out of the room, I noticed it was quiet. ''Strange.'' I thought. ''Nina and Alexander are supposed to be up and about already.'' I shrugged and filled my sanity bar as I walked to the library.


    "Ah hello Kira!" I turned around; it was Shou. "Morning. How are you this morning?" He smiled in happiness. "I finished my experiment yesterday evening. I have to finish a couple of things, but I can and will show I to you in the evening."


    "Nice. By the way, where are Nina and Alexander? Usually they are running about by this time."


    He hesitated but for a moment. "I was playing with Nina until late at night yesterday, so they are probably tired and still sleeping."


    "You''re a good parent. A pity your wife had to leave you two years ago. May I ask as to why she left?" I was approaching sensitive territory and I knew it.


    "Yeah. She left us because of financial problems. Before I became a state alchemist we were incredibly poor. My wife and I fought constantly about money and eventually she got so sick of it she straight up left. Thankfully I soon became a state alchemist and we were given this inn and everything that you see here." He sighed as he remembered his troubled times. "I would do anything not to return to those days."


    I patted him on the shoulder. "Well always look on the bright side of life. I will be going to your library and then hunting with my friend later on today. I hope to see you then."


    I entered the library and once again began reading.


    A chimera is a mixture between a human and an animal. It is regarded as taboo to mix with human life and therefore...


    Third person POV


    Three hours later...


    "So this is where you were." Kira looked up to see Dylan standing over him with a smile on his face. "Do you want to go out hunting with the siblings today?"


    Kira nodded and put down the book he was reading. His intelligence and wisdom stat had both gained twenty points.


    ''I wonder where Nina and Alexander are?" They should be running about by now...'' He pondered this question whilst they were walking, and even Garurumon enlarging didn''t make him stop musing.


    He was right; the inn was unusually quite that day and he had not seen Shou either.


    A hand pulled him out of a wolf''s jaw.


    "What the fuck are you doing?!" Dylan shouted incredulously. "We are fighting a dire wolf pack, now is not the time to be thinking!"


    ''He''s right.'' Kira sighed. His eyes refocused and he gripped his katana more naturally. Dylan eyed this  and gave a satisfied nod. "Good. You''ve woken up."


    Flames danced on Kira''s blade. He looked straight at two remaining wolves. "Let me handle these two. I was thinking about something."


    Yu and Mitsuki glanced at each other and lowered their weapons. Dylan sheathed his sword and nodded whilst Garurumon sat down, ready to step in if needs be.


    Kira ran at the wolves. He held his katana behind his back and lowered vertically. This had the added effect of making the sword seem shorted than it actually was.


    The first wolf snarled at Kira and leapt, aiming to bite his head off.


    Kira suddenly lunged in mid-air, his katana facing upwards. Yu and Mitsuki started in surprise at his move; usually he would roll out of the lunge and side-step it but why did he...


    Wait


    WAIT


    As soon as the wolf was above the sword, Kira swung it in an upward arc. The burning blade encountered some resistance but soon cleaved the wolf in half.


    The two pieces of dire wolf flew through the air, landing in front of Dylan and Garurumon, spilling entrails.


    Ignoring the shower of rain, Kira faced the final dire wolf. It backed off slightly. "Why did it back off? These guys never do that." It howled a long, desperate howl as if to summon something and ran towards Kira.


    ''Let''s see how good my dexterity is.''


    Kira lightly threw Heaven''s wheel into the air and caught it as though it was a spear. He pointed his arm at the approaching dire wolf and breathed out.


    A split second later, he threw it straight at the wolf with all his strength.


    It flew straight and true, and the unlucky wolf noticed it too late; the point of the katana pierced the nose of the wolf. It carried on, unhindered, even by bone. It cut right through the trachea of the dire wolf causing internal bleeding. It parted the spine in several different places and it also sliced open the stomach of the wolf. Its own stomach acids ate it inside out. It died, feeling agonising pain.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Kira walked up to the wolf and pulled out his katana. It was harder than it looked; the blade was buried right up into the hilt.


    *Ding* Congratulations on leveling up to 32!" Please assign stat points. Stat points available: 16


    "Usual ratio please."


    Gabumon suddenly stood up and growled. "Kira. Get back here. Something dangerous is coming."


    Kira retreated to his group and they all huddled together, waiting for whatever danger there was to appear.


    "It"s coming from that direction." Dylan pointed and the group readied their weapons.


    They waited for a seemingly endless amount of time. Then, it came.


    Level 45 Alpha dire wolf


    "What the fuck!?!" Everyone cried out. In front of them stood a dog reaching a foot in height. It seemed to have no mouth; only its nose and two eyes were visible in between its white fur. It had a collar around its neck and a small bag at its neck. It seemed to be harmless.


    "Aww how cute!" The two girls of the team cried out. They lowered their weapons and tried to approach it but- "Hold it." Dylan and Kira grabbed their collars and pulled them back. "This thing is level 45 for a reason. Do not lower your guard around it."


    The girls pouted but still listened. The dog, seeing that no-one approached it, obviously got angry. It started jumping up and down. It bit open the bag and something fell out. It stomped on two buttons and an angry voice came out.  A recording device!?!


    "Coro. Prey!"


    The group tensed. What was going to happen? "What the hell!?" Yu breathed.


    The dog bared its teeth and snarled. It grew in size. Its paws elongated and turned into muscular human arms. Its body thickened and enlarged.


    It roared, revealing multiple rows of teeth. "Shit." Kira threw a lightning spear. ''You''re too fat to miss!''


    The spear burned a hole the size of hand right through the beast. ''Got you.''


    "No matter what beast you are, a hole this size will make you bleed ou- WHAT THE!"


    Right before their very eyes the dog''s white fur began to heal and cover the wound; the blood retreated and within seconds it was as though that wound never existed. It roared again and jumped right at the group.


    "Scatter!" At Kira''s command, everyone ran out of the way.


    The giant beast landed, churning up soil and dust. It stood up unharmed. "Dylan!" Kira hurriedly shouted. "How do we beat this thing?" Since Dylan was the highest level out of all of them,  he probably knew how to deal with regenerating monsters.


    "I think we need to entirely blow it away! Yu! Mitsuki! Do your thing whilst we distract it!" They nodded and sprang back.


    Dylan charged in and swiped with his sword. Blood spurted but the alpha dire wolf healed. Kira sliced at the thing''s wrist. Blood spurted once again and the cut healed once again. Dylan jumped into the air whilst the dog was distracted with Kira. He brought his sword down in mid-air, cleaving the animal in half. Dylan hurriedly jumped back. The two halves tried to slap Dylan in between their hands but missed. Soon after, the wolf regenerated.


    "Hurry up!" Kira, seeing that nothing was affective, shouted at the siblings.


    "MOVE!" As soon as the siblings shouted Dylan and Kira got out of the way of their weapons. The wolf looked around, confused, but then the combined attacks of Yu and Mitsuki hit it.


    There was a giant explosion of light and fire.


    "That should do the trick. That move mixed our attacks. It''s called a unison raid." Kira and Tohka nodded, evidently impressed. Only Garurumon and Dylan  didn''t stop looking at the smoke.


    The smoke cleared and the wolf stood. Most of its flesh was melted away, revealing bone and muscle. Quickly and surely the wolf began recovering. "Shit. If that doesn''t work what does!?" Dylan cried out in exasperation.


    Kira''s eyes glazed and- "THE RECORDER!" He shouted. "Look for the recorder. It controls it. If we can use it, then we win!"


    Everyone nodded. "Garurumon, please fight it whilst we search." Garurumon smiled, showing canines and jumped at Coro. He sliced an arm clean off the still-regenerating monster, enraging it further. Garurumon didn''t miss a beat and bit into the leg.


    Kira and his party frantically scrambled to find the recorder. "Found it!" Mitsuki held it up for all to see. "Press each button! See what they do!" Dylan shouted, running to her. She pressed a button.


    "Last resort. Berserker!"


    The voice resounded out from the machine. The monster clearly heard this and stiffened. Everyone did. ''That does not sound good.'' Kira turned to Garurumon. "Get out that thing''s range!" His pet listen and retreated a few meters.


    The wolf, on the other hand, seemed to be grinning. It grew even larger and its fur started to turn crimson. Its teeth enlarged and its eyes filled with blood. ''SHITSHITSHITSHIT"''


    Mitsuki hurriedly pressed more buttons.


    "Coro. Arms!"


    "Coro. Prey."


    Coro started to turn to the party.


    "Coro. Stop!"


    The wolf stopped. It shrunk, as though it was a balloon losing air. Its fur became white and its mouth became lost in a midst of hair. It stood quietly. Everyone stood there, silent.


    Mitsuki, with a trembling voice, suddenly spoke.


    "Coro. Sit." The monster sat.


    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Well. Looks like you got a new pet Mitsuki." Kira laughed. "Let''s get back. I''m tired, hungry and it''s dark.


    Whilst they were hunting, the night approached.


    Everyone nodded and set off, heading straight to the city. Mitsuki instructed her new pet to follow them.

 Chapter 40

    May the best scythe win! This is the chapter FMA fans will absolutely <del>hate</del> love...


    Third person POV


    The party reached the city quickly. For some reason, dire wolves nor ordinary wolves didn''t attack them. Maybe because of the giant wolf or their former alpha wolf walking with the party. Nobody knew.


    They reached the city quickly, and then split up. The reason being was that the siblings wanted to check out the market of the town thoroughly before leaving.


    Dylan and Kira were the only ones walking to the inn. The sun was setting behind them and illuminated the steps to the inn, giving the usually grey steps a more orange look. Kira pushed open the doors and looked around.


    There was no-one at the till. Normally Shou stood there waiting for customers. Now, there was an empty seat. "Hello?" Kira called out. He cautiously walked in. Dylan entered and glanced around. "Let''s see what is behind those doors. It seems to me as though that''s his lab." Kira looked at the doors in question. Resting his hands on the handles, he pushed, flinging them open.


    Shou knelt in front of... A thing. The thing had white fur and a long brown mane. Its eyes had no iris and the thing was lowering its head.


    ''What is that?" Kira thought as he looked at the animal. Shou looked at Kira and motioned to him to get closer.


    "Hey. Kira." He said proudly. "Look at what I have done! The final product of my research!"


    Kira smiled, oblivious. He knelt in front of it and patted its head. It slowly raised its head slightly. "I have made a chimera that can understand human speech and imitate it!" Shou excitedly whispered.


    "Holy shit."


    "I know right!? Hey check this out." He pointed at Kira. "This is Kira. Kiiiiirrraaa." The animal looked at Kira and opened its mouth.


    "Ki...ra?" It spoke in a wheezing voice. Kira didn''t care; this was too amazing! "Ki...ra."


    Kira smiled. This was amazing. Shou really deserved his position as a state alchemist. Nobody had every successfully created a chimera capable of talking much less understanding human tongue.


    Shou stood up and looked at his notes.


    ''When Mr. Tucker finally publishes his research he will be famous throughout the land! He and Nina will never  have to worry about anythin-''


    "Onii...chan."


    With those three broken syllables, the entire thing came crashing down on Kira. He realised his mistake. He stood up, the dots connecting in his mind.


    "Mr. Tucker. When did your wife leave you exactly?"


    Shou raised an eyebrow. "Two years ago..."


    "And when did you become a state alchemist?"


    Shou Tucker rubbed his eyes. "Two years ago..."


    Silence permeated the air. Dylan slowly realised what was going on. Shou eyed Kira''s back.


    "You know, I really hate smart brats like you."


    A fist hit him right in the jaw. It was Kira. He grabbed Shou''s jacket and held him against the wall. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!?!?" Rage coursed through Kira. He hit the scumbag again, making the glasses on his face fall off.


    The chimera walked up to them. "Dad..dy." Kira grew more and more angry at the man in front of him.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Why are you angry? I merely did some research that will advance mankind. Making a few sacrifices didn''t stop anyone." Shou tried to reason.


    "BUT YOUR OWN FUCKING DAUGHTER!?!" Kira hit him again. Shou spat out some blood.


    "So what? In fact, what I have done is the same as necromancers, am I right? They-" a fist stopped him from continuing. Kira''s eyes narrowed and he activated chidori. Just as his hand was about to go through the man''s skull, a hand stopped him.


    "Leave this man to the authorities. Let them decide the punishment for breaking taboo."


    Kira let the electricity on his hand fizzle out. He dropped his hand and turned to leave. "Don''t you dare fucking move Mr. Tucker."


    Dylan stayed with Shou whilst Kira informed the state alchemist association. They marched right in and retrieved both Nina and Shou. Nina was placed in a cage and Shou was led away in chains.


    They found a new inn to stay the final night. Tohka logged on and once she had found out what had transpired, she also flew into a fit of rage.


    Third person POV


    Cold acrid winds blew across a frozen plain. Crows feasted on rotting bodies. All them were all impaled on giant wooden spears that sprung from the ground, and the crows were eager to accept the bountiful offering; Eyeballs were pecked out, flesh was picked clean and bones appeared through muscles and skin.


    In front of a gruesome spectacle, an army stood. They were standing in perfect formation, heads held high and uniforms unblemished. Not one of them shivered, but held gazes of worship at a single figure.


    This figure sat on a bare throne. She had long blue hair with unmarked skin, save for a single, black tattoo just below her neck. She wore a uniform that showed her body, and many people tried to have their way with her only to be killed. She held a chain in one hand and had eyes filled with disgust and distain.


    The chain was connected to the neck of a naked man. To many he would have been intimidating a day ago, but before that person in front of him, he was an insect.


    The girl tugged at the chain, and the man whose eyes held no life crawled in front of her and started licking the woman''s shoes. His spit went everywhere.


    "You''re pathetic Hak. I thought you would be a worthy rival; I heard that you were the thunder beast, someone who was undefeated whilst holding his spear." Her eyes looked down on him. "You didn''t amuse me for three hours and you were too easy to break. Die." She sighed and, with a single kick, broke the neck of the man before her.


    Blood splattered the faces of the nearest officers, yet they paid not attention to it. "Our rival guild was defeated in an instant. As expected of Esdeath ."


    The woman stood in front of her army and sighed. "Is there no worthy enemy anywhere that can satisfy me?"


    The wind grew silent. The woman noticed this and seemed saddened.


    She suddenly perked up. "That reminds me. The families will have a competition soon¡­" She suddenly smiled.


    ESDEATH ENTERS THE STORY! NINA AND ALEXANDER BECOME INSEPARABLE! Lots of things have happened in this chapter. Who are the families? Why is this girl, who such a sadistic battle maniac, looking forward to a competition?


    All will answered, NEXT TIME, ON DRAGONBALL Z!

 Lets make a list pt2!

    Anime that have appeared from chapter 21-40 include these, in not particular order:


    Fairy tail


    Death note


    D. Gray man


    Akame ga kill


    Full metal alchemist


    Digimon


    Akatsuki no yona


    Date a live


    Naruto


    Strike the blood


    Black butler


    Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon (Orario is the place where the anime takes place)


    Overlord


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Blue exorcist


    Hellsing


    Tokyo ghoul


    Higurashi no cano


    Bleach


    The sacred blacksmith


    Kill la kill


    Lord marksman and vandis


    Unlimited fafnir


    Chivalry of a failed knight


    Dragonar academy


    Dragon ball Z


    One punch man


    Bladedance of elementalers


    Assassination classroom

 Chapter 41

    Kira POV


    We slept badly that night. What Shou Tucker had done was still on everyone''s mind, and nobody in our group would ever forgive him.


    I decided to get a new mask that day. I went around the market; Yu and Mitsuki remembered where masks were sold, and I bought a plain mask; no marking or artwork anywhere. It was a diamond shape, with a giant ''+'' hole that allowed me to see. I liked it, but it was a pity that it didn''t give extra stats.


    "Hey Kira, it''s time for us to depart." Yu motioned to me. I looked at our carriage. It was quite a large carriage, able to fit six people on at once. Clearly they looked for full parties. ''Only full parties would be able to afford their costs.''


    Our method of transport was obviously maintained. The wheels were oiled and the horses were clean. They had food, water prepared and they were kept in good health.


    The carriage itself was not flashy, at least on the outside. The doors were black, the wheels were black; in fact, everything was black. They did this in order to remain inconspicuous.


    The inside, however, spacious and comfortable. There were pillows and reclining chairs. It seemed to be Endless online''s version of a limousine.


    "Well, do you like the carriage?" The child, Ciel, approached me. "Yes. Thank you."


    "I remember you mentioning that we will be sharing this." I asked Ciel. "Who is coming with us?" He sat at the diver''s seat with the help of his butler and smiled. "They will be here soon, and if they wish to tell you their identity, they will. For now, we wait. There are fifteen minutes until departure, so please make yourselves comfortable."


    I nodded and went inside. Yu and the rest were already sitting down. Yu, Dylan and Mitsuki took all the seats on one side. Tohka, with a grin on her face, patted the seat next to her. I helplessly sighed and sat next to her. She kept smiling throughout the time we waited.


    At exactly 15 minutes after I had talked to Ciel, I heard someone shouting at the carriage. "Wait for me!!" It was a girl.


    She wore black leather armour. It covered most parts of her body, giving it the maximum amount of protection possible. There was 50/50 chance that she was the ''archer'' class. Most archers were elves due to natural affinity, but human archers also existed and were useful to have. The other class she could be was the rouge/thief class. These fought with two daggers or knives, and were good scouts. Their class would later go on to be assassin.


    ''She clearly isn''t a girl that likes to show off her body to attract easy money and equipment. She got it herself.'' I looked at the faces of my teammates and apparently Dylan had the same thought as me... I had a bit of respect for her, but not as much as I respected Tohka.


    "Hello there!" She cheerfully said as she entered and sat down. We all had our weapons in our inventories, and nobody would get it out unless we were attacked by bandits.


    "Hello." We all gave her a short reply.


    "That''s everyone." Ciel''s voice could be heard. "Let''s ride, Sebastian." (commas are important)


    "Yes my lord." With the crack of a whip, we set off. "By the way, we will not be stopping untill we get to your destination. Bandits will be handled by me, so sleep to your hearts content." Sebastian''s voice came through. ''Pity the exp will not belong to us, but oh well.'' I looked at Tohka."Hey, I am going to log off to train for a competition. I will be back after a while, so please don''t worry." She nodded, as though she dislike the thought of me leaving her. I patted her head and logged off.


    ''Let''s eat.''


    After I ate my food, I did as I promised and went training.


    Third person POV


    John lived in a city where there was a dojo. Permanent dojos were rather rare in his county, but thankfully there was one such dojo that allowed practice for anyone. For a price, off course...


    John walked to the dojo. He wore baggy clothing and he carried a bag with water, snacks and a sword.


    Arriving at the dojo, he greeted the other practitioners by bowing, and they immediately bowed back.


    In martial arts, which originated in Japan, bowing was done as a greeting as well as showing respect. The lower the bow, the more respect they held for that person.


    John started with a warm-up that was useful for the entire body. He did stretches, exercises. He did break falls and the shadow-throwing. He was going to practice judo.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there."Does anyone want to spar with me?" John called out and everyone but one hurriedly shook their heads. John sighed. "Please." Still, no-one came.


    "You shouldn''t have hurt them as you have done young master." A elderly voice came from behind. John smiled as he turned round and faced the old man.


    "Hello there." He bowed and the man bowed back. The old man grey hair and had a walking stick. His days of fighting were over, but he still taught.


    "So can you please make someone volunteer to be my partner? I have the family meeting later this week and in a months time I have the families competition."


    The old man sighed. "Well if I was thirty years younger this old man would have fought you, but now..."  He sighed again. "I guess... You!" He pointed to a boy John''s age. "Do some judo randori with John!" The boy breathed a sigh of relief and came up to face John. ''At least there are no punches in judo.''


    They were both in judogi, the ''uniform'' of a practitioner of judo. They bowed. The old man looked at both fighters. "Hajime!"


    John shot out his arm, grabbing the lapel of his opponent''s judogi and pulled his opponent down.


    The teen stumbled, but managed to grip John''s sleeve, stopping himself from falling. John switched grips; with his right hand he held his opponent''s right-hand sleeve and with his left hand he gripped just behind the neck.


    He pulled with both hands, making the other guy lose balance. John stepped into the stumbling guy and rolled back. He lightly kicked his left leg into the back of the uki''s thigh, sending him over John. With a bam, the opponent landed on his back. "Ippon!" The elder shouted.


    They bowed to each other. The elder walked up to John, the victor of the bout.


    "Nice fight, but it was over too quickly." The elder commented. "You need to go easy on your opponents so they can learn from their fights with yo-" The elder was interrupted by the revving of a motorcycle.


    ''Who is that?'' Everyone had the same thought. The door burst open and two male teenagers walked in.


    "Hello there!" The guy talking was evidently rude. He wore a male black uniform and his blonde hair was styled up like an anime character. His friend behind him was taller and slightly more muscular. His dark brown hair was the same colour as his skin. His impassive face stared at everyone.


    "We are here to conquer this dojo! So..." He spread his arms dramatically. "Who will face me."


    John looked around and everyone was looking at him. The elder patted his shoulder. "With this guy you can swap. Just don''t hurt him too much."


    John closed his eyes and smiled. "I guess it is my turn now." He turned to face the guy.


    "I will be your opponent. How shall we fight?" The guy grinned. "Hand-to-hand combat." The members of the dojo winced. John was proficient in all the martial arts the dojo had offered. He studied diligently; he had to.


    This particular dojo taught several martial arts, including Judo, Jujutsu and Taekwondo.


    "Sure. Prepare to lose."


    The guy snorted and faced John. "We fight until the other cannot continue."


    The elder sighed and stood to the side of them. He brought his arms together with a shout.


    "Hajime!"


    John''s opponent put up his guard, peeking through the gap. John did no such thing.


    He started off as though boxing; a jab, another jab and a hook. The guy blocked all of them. "I''m known as the hero hunter. Don''t think you can win!" John spun round with a kick, aiming for the head.


    The hero hunter raised both arms to block, falling for the trap.


    John''s leg hit his guard. His attack was stopped and his opponent sneered at him. He smiled back. He hooked his leg through the guard and sharply brought his leg down. "Guard breaker..." The other disciples muttered in wonder.


    John did not waste the chance. He didn''t allow his foot to hit the floor; instead, he used it as lever for his next attack. Twisting his body along with his foot, John hit the hero hunter in the temple with the palm of his hand.


    With a shocked look, the man''s eyes rolled into the back of his head and fell down.


    "Sonomade! John wins!"

 Chapter 42

    Third person POV


    The guy was brought down quickly. He was ok and it was evident that he had training, shown by his strong guard, but he lacked technique and was way too arrogant.


    His friend was slack-jawed. He obviously did not expect his friend and comrade to lose at all, let alone quickly.


    "So... You wanna go?" John smiled at the man.


    "You bastard!" The man rushed him, fists raised. John turned serious and crouched just as the man was over him.


    The man stumbled over John, and just as he was directly above him, he punched the man in the stomach, winding him.


    He collapsed, breathless. "Trash." John muttered as he walked over to them. The other members of the dojo backed away in fear.


    John grabbed the guy''s leg and dragged him out of the dojo and threw him on the concrete outside. He repeated it with the unconscious one as well. "And don''t come back!"


    Turning towards the mat, John smiled.


    "Would anyone want to spar with me?"


    Kira POV


    I logged back on and found that practically everyone was asleep or had logged off. Dylan was absent-mindedly looking outside the carriage, humming a tune.


    Mitsuki had her head on Yu''s shoulder. ''How cute. That''s how siblings should be. Not like me and my sister.''


    I try and stretch when I feel it. Two heads on both my shoulders... Tohka rests her head on my right and the other girl rests her head on my left. If Tohka logged back on before the other girl, ''This would be hard to explain.''


    I ate some food to fill my sanity bar and  cleared my throat. "How much longer until we are there?"


    "Around a day and a half, sir." Sebastian answered. Satisfied with that, I tried to free myself from the girls.


    "By the way, where are our pets?" I ask Dylan. He points upwards. "The roof?! Seriously?" He nods.


    Suddenly the carriage starts to slow down. "What''s going on?"


    "There seems to be a lone carriage in the road." I stand up, and the girls bumped heads. Thankfully they were players and logged off. Once they do log on, it will hurt like a bitch.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.I get out of the carriage along with Dylan. Sebastian was right: There was a carriage on the road. It looked just like ours, but there were four horses standing calmly instead of two. ''Strange. Why are the horses just standing there? If there was an attack, the horses would have fled.''


    "Oi, is this one of yours?"


    Ciel shook his head and, with the help of his butler, got off the driver''s seat. He studied it for a minute.


    "This carriage belongs to the black order exorcists.'' He pointed at a cross before opening the door too the carriage. He looked inside and...


    "There appears to be a person there."


    I take a looks and gasp in shock: The person inside is practically on the verge of death.


    "Quick! Does anyone have bandages?!" I start to apply heal but this won''t fully heal him. Dylan widens his eyes when he sees what happened to the guy but quickly starts to apply the bandages... All over the guy.


    "Sir!" I shout, hoping to get a response from the man "Can you hear me?!?"


    His eyes shoot open. I breathe  sigh of relief- the man is alive. "I''m going to need you to rest okay?"


    The man stares upwards and then starts to... sing?


    "The lord Millennium is in search of you. Looking for his heart now, have you heard the news?" He wheezed out, even though his throat was probably dry.


    "I was not the one he sought, maybe it is you. Who is it that has his heart? He will find you soon."


    He started to sing the same verse again, ignoring us. ''This guy needs medical attention.'' We brought him out and he offered no resistance; it was as though he was a corpse.


    "Hey. This guy is injured. Let''s put him on the carriage. I will ride on Garurumon."


    "Let''s put him in-between the girls!" Dylan laughs and carries the guy into the carriage. I smile at his little joke.


    "Garurmon!" I call out. "Let''s increase our mastery of riding."


    He jumped off the roof and padded up to me. I sat on him and nodded at Sebastian. With the snap of a whip, we set off.

 Chapter 43

    Third person POV


    "I''m booooredd!" A girl exclaimed. "Nobody is challenging for me, and I can beat them with swordplay, let alone spells." She sighed. "Clare, let''s go to Orario." A girl with short hair wearing silver armour and a claymore stepped to face the bored girl, her superior. "Yes ma''am. I heard that the tower there is full of monsters."


    The back of a saber hit her on the head. The girl named Clare crouched down, holding the spot where she was hit. She looked up with tears in her eyes to see her blue haired boss look dramatically out of a window. "No. I''m currently not interested in monsters and mobs. I want to go to the arena. I want to find someone worthy."


    Kira POV


    We were almost at the city when I heard a scream. "Looks like someone logged on." I chuckled to myself as the siblings woke up.


    "We are an hour away from the City of Orario." Sebastian called out. I patted Garurmon''s side. "You tired or are you okay?" He breathed out. "I''m tired but I can run an hour."


    "That''s great."


    We left the carriage five minutes away from the city gates. The demon butler and Ciel promised to delver the injured man to the black order. The girl that was with us only said goodbye, glared at me (She was the one who logged on and screamed apparently) and ran off.


    We arrived at the city and holy shit it was breath-taking. The town had stylish buildings and a cheery atmosphere. This town was not just made up of humans. There were beast , dwarves and even a few elves. A lot of them wore adventurer''s clothing and not all of them were players. NPCs walked around armed with spears, staffs and swords. ''Impressive.''


    "However, the city of Orario was not famed solely on its riches and culture. One of two main reasons why it was famous was because of a gigantic tower in the middle of the city.


    It was called the tower of Orario, and the city was built around it. At first it was heralded as a place of death and danger, but gradually people settled around it once they found out the monsters never go out of the tower.


    The second main reason the city was famous was because of its Gods. Not forgotten Gods, but actual, physically-real-you-can-touch-them Gods. They didn''t laze about either; they gave adventurers who pledged loyalty and to worship them their crest- to become one of their famlia."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story."Thank you for that explanation Dylan. Now, where should we all go?"


    "THE MARKETPLACE!" Mitsuki and Tohka shouted together. Yu, Dylan and I sighed; we knew how tirelessly a woman would hunt when going shopping. "What about the tower?" I suggested.


    "NO!" The girls pouted. They were tired after a three day journey and wanted to relax. "I sighed helplessly. "Fine. Dylan, please find us a good inn to stay in, not like that one. Yu and I will accompany the girls and see some sights."


    He nodded and waved us goodbye. Tohka grinned and pulled my hand. I smiled and followed her.


    Three hours later


    OH MY GOD! I DIDN''T KNOW THAT SHOPPING WITH GIRLS WAS THIS TIRING!


    After Tohka pulled me away, I had spent the last three hours looking through the various stores the city offered. Garurmon slept through on my shoulder. ''Lucky bastard.'' I had to serve as errand boy for Tohka. Yu probably had the same treatment. I didn''t care; I was way too tired to care.


    "So I found this great inn, a couple of minutes from here." Dylan consoled me. "It has comfy beds an-"


    "Let''s go now!" Tohka and I followed him to the said inn. It was the standard inn, with a friendly innkeeper and his wife giving us the key to our room. I fall exhausted on my bed and log off.


    I slept soundly, mainly because I was relieved to relax after the shopping.


    I logged back on to see Tohka using me as a body pillow...


    I stood up and decided to see the tower of Orario. Exiting the inn, I walked straight to the tower. It was easy to find- just walk in a straight line.


    "Holly shit it''s large." It was larger up close, with a radius of several kilometers. There were several entrances to the tower, some more popular than others.


    Just as I was about to go in, "STOP!" An female elf in secretary clothing shouted at me. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU''RE GOING!?!"

 Chapter 44

    Kira POV


    In front of me stood an angry elf. She had glasses and wore neat clothing. She looked like a stereotypical secretary, albeit with longer ears.


    "Do you know where you''re going!?" I nodded. "It''s the tower of Orario. It''s a dungeon and it is what I am about to enter. Is there a problem?"


    "THERE IS A PROBLEM!" She told me off. "There are rules for this dungeon!" She then proceeded to list all of them...


    "Firstly, everyone who wants to go into the dungeon has to be part of a familia. Then they will be legally able to enter. You must also sign a document that makes you unable to sue us for all injuries in the dungeon. I know, it''s stupid but it have been incidences where people tried to sue us. Then you can go to the dungeon!" She finished her rant and crossed her arms. I sighed.


    "Fine. How do I get myself to be in a familia?"


    "You have to prove yourself first. Follow me to the arena. There you will fight until you prove yourself to a God or Goddess."


    "Can I bring a friend?" I wanted Tohka to come with me. She looked back. "Sure, and you can form a team."


    ''Nice.''


    "You need to fill these forms." I had followed her to a administrative building and was forced to sign some forms. I had picked up Tohka along the way and we had formed a two person party.


    "The arena is quite special. It focuses more on the skill of a person rather than the level." She smiled as she continued. "The arena makes you all the same level; it adds up all of your levels and then finds the mean. Thus, people who have more skill have a better chance."


    ''Interesting. This would be a great way to kill some time. "So where is the arena?"


    She pointed at a faraway building. "That  is the coliseum. You just go there and sign up. You have to fight in rounds, and the winner gains fame, fortune and the approval of a God or Goddess. You''re lucky, a new round is starting in an hour or so, so you have to hurry."


    Thanking the elf, Tohka and I set off.


    We managed to arrive in half an hour. I had to drag Tohka away from shops that caught her eye. "PLEASEEE!


    LET ME BUY THOSE! I WANT THEM!"


    "No! We have to get to the arena, then we can go shopping."


    "BUT I WANT TO GO NOOOWWWW!"


    That is how our half hour journey went.


    Third person POV


    Kira and Tohka finally managed to get to the coliseum. As they entered, they started to hear the sounds. Cheering. Screams. Shouts. Metal clashing on metal. ''Everything you would expect from an establishment such as this.''


    "Can I help you?" A large man sat at the receptionist''s desk. "We would like to fight and prove ourselves to a God or Goddess." He nodded. "I see. I believe that you wish to be together?" They nodded and the man gave them their team number: 777.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "Follow the signs to the waiting room. You''ll have to wait a while before you go because there are a lot of people here."


    Nodding their thanks, they left as another pair came in. Probably another couple they might fight.


    The pair followed the signs just like the male receptionist told them to. They reached a room and opened the door. Looking in, they saw hundreds of people standing around. "Quite a strange place, huh." Kit commented on the amount of people with the strange outfits and weapons. As they entered, they kept together.


    Five minutes later, the pair Kira saw entering the coliseum opened the door. They were both women and looked quite different from each other. One had long, blue hair and a black tattoo on the bottom of her neck. Her friend,on the other hand, had short pale blonde hair and wore armour clearly made for heavy infantry. She carried a claymore on her back.


    The blue haired lady looked around with eyes full of scorn. ''Oh boy...'' She drew her saber and raised it up high.


    "Tohka, get behind me." Tohka complied and just as the saber was swung, Kira summoned his only defensive spell: Blazing flame of the fire dragon.


    Putting his fireball in front of him as quickly as he could, he barely managed to stop the attack the woman sent at everyone. Kira closed his eyes


    The fireball snuffed out. ''It''s cold.'' Kira slowly opened his eyes and was shocked. Ice. It was everywhere. It was on the walls, the ceiling, the floor and the competitors. Tohka hugged Kira from behind.


    Kira looked at the blue haired lady in shock: She had just killed hundreds of people in one attack!


    He glared at her and she looked back with indifference. Breaking off her gaze, she snapped her fingers and with schink all of the ice shattered and disappeared along with anyone unfortunate enough to get caught up in it.


    Kira looked back. There, several people stood angrily glaring at the blue haired girl.


    ''Well, since you attacked me, isn''t it fair I do the same to you?'' Kira brought his hand up in a javelin thrower''s position and summoned lightning spear. The blue haired girl noticed this and grinned. She faced Kira and they looked at each other''s faces... Or mask in this case...


    Tohka prepared to rush them; she drew her broadsword. "Stop. They attacked us once. We attack once as well." Kira scolded her without taking his eyes of the blue haired girl.


    He stepped forward, flinging the spear straight at the girl.


    The spear flew straight at her. She narrowed her eyes and drew out her saber in wide arc. As she drew it, ice formed and hardened on the blade.


    The frozen saber hit the spear. It knocked away the first half, but the girl didn''t receive a chance to blow away the second.


    "ARRGGGGHHHHH!!" The blue haired girl screamed in pain but for a moment; collapsing on one knee. Her saber propped her up.


    "Esdeath!" The pale haired girl ran up to her to help, but was stopped by her hand. "I brought this upon myself. Leave me be." She pushed herself up and stood up. She looked at Kira with her head held high.


    Kira nodded, acknowledging her strength.


    "Hello everyone." A man with white hair and bartender suit entered the building. Clearly he was the man that they were told to wait for.


    "Please follow me. You will be fighting shortly."

 Chapter 45

    Hello Everyone! Sorry I haven''t been posting for the last week but I have a reason: EXAMS! Now that they are all over, I will be posting regularly! See you later!


    Third person POV


    The bartender-like man led the pairs through a tunnel and they saw a  light at the end of the tunnel. Still stoic, the white haired man stood to the side and motioned for the pairs to go through.


    "-lease welcome our contestants!" An announcer shouted and the crowd roared in response. Kira squinted as the light assaulted his eyes.


    "There were several hundred of competitors but most of them were killed!" The crowd shouted angrily, clearly some of them had someone they were rooting for killed.


    "FEAR NOT!" The announcer shouted. "The fighters in front of you are the ones that survived; they are the strongest! IF ANYONE WANTS TO SEE WEAKLINGS FIGHT, THEN THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!"


    The crowd roared as though they were animals. Clearly this commentator knew how to whip up and control a crowd. Kira''s eyes finally got used to the light and "Holy shit." He breathed out.


    There were at least two thousand people sitting in a coliseum. The arena itself was over a hundred meters in diameter, covered in sand. The occasional disembodied hand or finger sticking out in the midst of yellow.


    "So for our fist fight, we have the pairs of 116 and 564 against each other!" The commentator shouted and the crowd screamed with excitement.


    Kira looked to where the commentator was shouting from. It was a seat just in front of a shaded stand. The commentator was a man who channeled mana into a megaphone object. Looking past him, Kira could see figures of men and women, who he assumed were the Gods and Goddesses.


    His eyes locked onto one such figure. Although he was too far away to confirm it, he thought the figure was looking at him too.


    "Let''s go Kira." Tohka pulled his arm. Breaking away his gaze, he followed her back into the darkness of the tunnel. Two pairs walked past him.


    Two pairs faced each other. On one side was number 116 and on the other 564. 116''s team consisted of two warriors, one male and one female. 564, on the other hand, was weird: One was a blonde boy, smiling arrogantly. The other was a... Humanoid thing. It had a cane, wore a suit and wore a top hat upon its head.


    "IT''S A FIGHT UNTIL ONE SIDE CANNOT CONTINUE OR HAVE GIVEN UP! START!"


    The two warriors drew their swords and readied their shields. 564 just stood there.


    Suddenly the small white humanoid brandished its can and yelled. "FOOL!"


    Taken aback, the two hesitated. The white creature continued. "Is it not common curtsey to bow towards your opponent before a fi-"


    The warriors didn''t want to hear this lecture and rushed him. They swung their swords, hitting air. The thing jumped back into the hands of the arrogant blond boy, and... Transformed?!


    "OHHH! WE HAVE A WEAPON HERE!" The commentator shouted. "WEAPONS ARE ORGANIC WEAPONS, CAPABLE OF TRANSFORMING BETWEEN HUMAN AND WEAPON. THEY''RE INCREDIBLY RARE, BUT HERE WE SEE ONE TODAY!" The crowd shouted in anticipation if the fight.


    "Come, fowl villains! Taste the blade of Excalibur!" The boy shouted at the approaching duo.


    They reached him and quickly swung. However, the golden boy disappeared in a flash of light.  Everyone looked about, wondering where he was.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I''m above!" Everyone looked up and, true to his word, the boy was floating in mid-air with yellow angel-like wings hovering behind him. ''Fool.'' Kira thought. ''If you are above them don''t announce it.''


    The warriors sheathed their weapons, their swords would be  ineffective against an airborne opponent. Instead they, both players, retrieved bows and started firing at the floating boy. The boy disappeared and reappeared behind the male warrior and stabbed him in the back. The male quickly reacted and spun around, hoping to shoot the boy point blank before he died. The female didn''t stand around either; she leapt and swung her sword, hoping to cleave the boy.


    Their opponent merely smiled just as the man released the arrow and the woman''s sword was above him.


    "AND AFTER THAT BRILLIANT DISPLAY, WE HAVE A WINNER! 564 WINS AND GOES THROUGH TO THE NEXT ROUND!"


    ''The boy has a reason to be arrogant. He played them from start to finish. He went in-between the two attacks and teleported out of the way. The two warriors killed each other.'' Kira watched as the bodies disappeared with a flash.


    "ALRIGHTY, TIME FOR THE NEXT ROUND! CAN THE PAIRS 777 AND 93 COME OUT AND FACE EACH OTHER!?!"


    ''That''s us.''


    "Let''s go Tohka." He signalled to her and walked back out into the blazing sun. He had his katana strapped to the side and knives in his hand; he was ready to fight.


    "Yes!" Tohka shouldered her broadsword and followed him out into the open.


    Their opponents were already there, a pair of players in cloaks and staffs. ''Magicians. How interesting.''


    *Ding* Your level mean has been calculated. You are now (temporarily) level 52. Stats have been distributed to the most likely stat.


    Peeling his eyes off the notification, Kira faced his enemy.


    "SO WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN IN LIFE OR DEATH BATTLE!?" Kira placed his hands on his knives, crossing his arms. "TWO MAGICIANS VERSUS TWO WARRIORS!" Kira tensed and aimed. "WARRIORS AND MAGICIANS, START!" Kira threw.


    The magicians grabbed their clothing and stopped. "WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE!?! THE WARRIORS HAVE MADE LITTLE MOVEMENT! WHAT ARE THEY DOING!?!"


    One of the magicians coughed. The other followed suit. Their hands  wandering off their cloaks and onto their throats. They felt the metal there and with shaking hands tried to remove it.


    One of them hunched over, then fell face-first into the sand. Blood poured from his throat. The other held on a little longer, clawing with weakening hands. The light in his eyes dimmed and he fell backwards.


    "WHAT IS THIS!?!?! BOTH MAGICIANS OF THE TEAM HAVE BEEN KILLED INCREDIBLY QUICKLY!" Kira approached their corpses and with forceful tugs, withdrew his bloodied knives.


    "AN-AND THE WINNER IS TEAM 777! GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"


    Tohka pouted. "I thought I would be able to kill someone just now. Do you need me or not?" Kira laughed as they walked back and patted her head. "Yes. I will need you, but those two were easy to kill with knives. I would kill them as quickly as possible, so I can eat in real-life." He smiled.


    "Besides, there is still time until the next round of fights, so I will do shit in real life. You and I still need to do some homework."


    She sighed, signaling that he was right.


    They both logged off, unknowing that two figures seemed to be smiling at them.

 Chapter 46

    John POV


    "Holy mother of-" I was staring at my computer screen. What was in front of me amazed me.


    I had logged off and had eaten. After I did my homework that Hajime had sent me, I decided to browse the internet for any surprises. And holy shit what I found surprised me.


    What I was seeing could only be described as "beautiful." This swordswoman had graceful movements, confidently parrying and attacking her opponent. Her opponent was a player who had a spear, but with an emphasis on one side. He wasn''t bad, but the woman out skilled him. Once she had disarmed him, she proceeded to slowly torture the man in front of her loyal army.


    She didn''t cut off any limbs, nor did she break any bones; she merely drugged him and began to whisper in his ear. It was amusing to watch the man break as the drug started to take hold off him. Whatever words the blue haired girl whispered into his ear were obviously effective.


    After three minutes, she grew bored. Snapping her fingers, a man brought up a chain a collar, before standing back in line. ''She is a good commander. She is either loved or feared by her subordinates. Probably both.''


    She snapped the collar onto the man''s neck and sat down. With a simple command, the naked, broken man started slobbering over her. In thirty seconds, she grew bored and kills the man and ended with her standing in front of her army.


    I whistled as the screen showed the girl around my age. The video was had two obvious reasons for being posted:


    1. To make everyone fear them.


    2. As a promotional ad.


    However, that''s for obvious people. For people like me, it was a challenge. I could see he face throughout the entire video; it was full of scorn and boredom. She was seeking a challenger and experience the thrill of a true fight.


    I grinned, showing teeth. "Well miss blue hair, I will grant you it." I said as I logged back onto Endless online.


    Kira POV


    I looked around and saw Tohka''s avatar ''sleeping'' next to me. I noticed that many players were also logging back on; we were supposed to start fighting soon.


    Tohka jolted awake. "So, did you do anything interesting?" She rubbed her eyes and stretched. I  chuckled. "You could say that." I pointed towards the blue haired girl. She was surrounded by men with the same uniform I saw in the video.


    "You see the blue hair? Yes her. She has beautiful swordsmanship and I saw her fight. She will be a major problem for us." She narrowed her eyes. "So how are we going to beat her?"


    "You fight her aide whilst I take on the big fish. I haven''t been able to go all out for some time now, so I look forward to seeing her in the arena.


    The blue hair jolted awake. She was immediately swarmed by her crazed followers. Voices of Eisdeath this, and Eisdeath that began to repeat in the crowded room. I stared at her and in-between the smiles she showed her followers, she glared back.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE ARENA AND THE SECOND ROUND OF FIGHTS! WHO WILL WIN THE APPROVAL OF A GOD OR GODDESS AND WHO WILL NOT? LET''S FIND OUT, SHALL WE!!?!" The crowd roared their approval to start the fighting.


    "ALRIGHT FOR THE FIRST FIGHT OF TODAY, WE HAVE THE NUMBERS 778 AND 564!" Everyone in the crowd yelled with excitement. Both parties stood up and started to walk towards the center of the arena.


    "BOTH ARE FAVOURITES TO WIN, BUT WE SHALL SEE WHO HAS THE BETTER SKILL!" They faced each other.


    The blue hair, Esdeath, raised her saber. ''I know this attack. But then again, so does he."


    "START!" With the commentator''s permission, Esdeath swung the saber down.


    Ice blasted from her towards the boy. Excalibur transformed and formed a shield of light in front of the boy, protecting him.


    "That''s not going to work!" He shouted, his confidence back.


    Esdeath smirk whilst maintaining the ice blast. "It''s a two versus one. You know what that means?"


    The silver armoured girl appeared with a claymore behind the boy. He noticed and started to turn around, but it was already too late.


    "It means that you have to watch your back." Esdeath finished as the claymore impaled him.


    The claymore was lifted upwards, making the boy scream briefly in pain before falling to the ground, dead.


    The crowd roared their support for Esdeath and her subordinate. Esdeath sighed and began to walk back, and claymore girl followed.


    "GIVE IT UP FOR 778! NOW OUR NEXT FIGHT IS 777 AND 123!"


    I walked to the middle alongside Tohka. My mask covered my face and made me look like an impassive killer; exactly how I wanted to look.


    Tohka shouldered her broadsword. She lightly hit me. "Let me kill at least one person..." She pouted and I patted her head. "We''ll see."


    In front of us was a pair of people. One was obviously a boy my age, the other was a girl. She was kinda cute... Wait. Why do I fell killing intent from Tohka? I glance to the side and Tohka has already set her sights on the girl.


    *Ding* You are now (temporarily) level 45.


    Sigh "Tohka, don''t kill them, they''re NPC-"


    "START!" Before I could finish my sentence, Tohka had already jumped into the air, clearly aiming to kill the girl.


    The boy jumped in front of the girl, raising his iron sword and clearly intending to stop Tohka''s attack. ''Can''t have that now can we?'' I throw a knife into the boy''s stomach.


    The boy dropped his sword and held his stomach, leaving the girl defenceless. The girl didn''t move out of Tohka''s way and ended up being cleaved in half. ''Ouch.''


    The boy was still alive when Tohka walked up to him. " Please help me." He pleaded.


    Tohka raised her foot and sharply brought it down on the boy''s head, curb stomping him. ''Double ouch.''


    She bent down and retrieved my knife. "Here." She handed back my bloodied knife. "Don''t go around checking out other girls okay?" She whispered into my ear, bringing shivers down my spine.


    Who is this girl? An esper?!!?!"

 Chapter 47

    Third person POV


    "Please welcome our new transfer student! You can come in now!" A lone girl, around 17/18 years old, entered the classroom. Whispers of "She''s cute! Does she have a boyfriend?" Or "What does she like?" Permeated throughout the classroom.


    She had long brown hair reaching her waist with no decorations nor braids. She walked as though she was a military commander, yet her steps were fluid and precise. She stopped in front of the classroom and faced her new classmates. Gasps were heard as her heterochromatic eyes, one brown and one green, fascinated the classroom. She spoke, her voice loud yet soft.


    "Hello everyone. My name is Esshi Kurogane. Nice to meet you."


    "So what''s your favourite colour?"


    "What''s your favourite pastime?"


    "Do you have a boyfriend or someone you like?"


    These sorts of questions were being thrown at Esshi, who sat smiling back at the crowd, answering the questions calmly.


    "My favourite colour is blue and my favourite pastime is either playing Endless online or training my martial arts. I don''t have a boyfriend, but there was this one person, I don''t know if they were a boy or girl." She smiled. "Their face was hidden by a mask when we fought, but they displayed exquisite swordsmanship and I want to meet them," her smile widened into a predatory grin. "So we can fight again!" She giggled like a child, enjoying the rush as she remembered fighting that person, and tried to imagine the thrill of fighting them once more.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    The class became nervous seeing her expression."So how will you find that person?" One boy timidly asked. He was kinda hopeful that she would never find the person, more so if they were a guy.


    Esshi looked at her classmates right in the eye. "It''s simple." She pointed to one of her eyes. "The person wore a mask, but I could clearly see their eyes." She paused dramatically. "That person was like me; they had heterochromatic eyes- one blue and the other was somehow gold."


    Some of the third years started to laugh nervously whilst others, mostly the boys, clenched their teeth in jealousy and anxiety.


    Esshi clearly picked up on that, looking around, she asked, looking at everyone around her. "What? Why are you all acting nervous?" One girl spoke up.


    "Well, you see, the person you are looking for is here."


    "WHAAAT!!!" Esshi could not believe her ears and shouted, slamming her hands on the desk.


    "Y-Yes." They girl nervously fidgeted. "H-He is a first year, and I think his name is John Doe or something."


    Esshi quietly walked toward the girl and placed her hands on her shoulders. With trembling, excited breaths, she looked the girl straight in the eyes.


    "Where is he?"

 Chapter 48

    Third person POV


    "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE THREE FIGHTS LEFT UNTIL WE FIND THE WINNER!"


    Kira and Tohka were standing in front of the stand of the Gods and Goddesses.


    "THE SEMI-FINAL CONTESTANTS ARE TEAMS 777, 778, 545 AND 256! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!" The crowd roared and started to clap.


    "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! WE ARE NOW DRAWING THE MATCHED FOR THE SEMI-FINALS." The commentator paused dramatically and the crowd waited with baited breath.


    "OUR SEMI-FINAL FIGHT, 777 AND 778 VERSUS 545 AND 256, A TEAM BATTLLLLLEEE!" Reaching a crescendo, the commentator made the crowd explode in screams and shouts out of pure excitement.


    ''A team battle, huh?'' Kira glanced at his new teammates. The claymore seemed to be trying to calm down the blue hair.


    Kira approached and stuck his hand out, as a way of temporary friendship between the two teams. Claymore glanced their way and hurriedly stood straight to meet them, shaking Kira''s hand.


    "My name is Kira and this is Tohka. What are your names?"


    "My name is Clare and this is my superior, Esdeath. I apologise for her current state, she''s currently very angry."


    "Why so?"


    "Well, she has been searching for this one person with heterochromatic eyes for years and today she found the person. When she went to look for him, he was apparently excluded for a week and no-one knows where he lives! So she is pretty frustrated." Clare sighed.


    "Ohh." Kira was suddenly nervous; only one percent of the entire human population has heterochromatic eyes, and he was one of them. ''Let''s keep my eyes secret for now.''


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere."So what''s the name of the guy?" ''Please don''t say it please don''t say it please don''t say it.''


    "His name is John Doe and he has the weirdest combination of eyes- one blue, and one gold."


    FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKK


    If Kira had water in his mouth he would have spat it out in shock. ''Shit she found me. Oh well, I could use this to my advantage.''


    Clare turned to face their opponent.


    "Oi Clare," Kira chuckled and Clare faced him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"


    "Tell your boss that I may have info on John Doe, and I will only tell her if she wins this fight."


    Clare''s eyes widened in shock, registering the new information. She walked up to the panting Esdeath and whispered in her ear.


    Esdeath stopped panting and blinked. She slowly straightened and with eyes full of intense motivation, faced their enemy.


    Kira drew his katana and activated his shikai; he wasn''t going to take any chances. If these people in front of them could get to this stage without dying, then they should not be underestimated.


    Tohka marvelled at Kira''s new weapon. "Concentrate on the enemy, not my weapon. Sorry if it amazes you, but not right now." Kira reprimanded her and both of them readied their weapons. Esdeath drew her saber and Clare hoisted her claymore.


    "THE FIGHTERS ARE READY, NOW, WITH THIS, STAAAARRT!"


    Cliffhangers? What are they?

 Chapter 49

    Third person POV


    As soon as the signal was given, the two sides ran forward. Tohka chose to engage a man with a giant-ass sword, Esdeath fought a man with white hair. Her saber and his saber clashed.


    Clare crossed swords with a blonde woman who wielded a double edged longsword.


    Kira ran towards his opponent. A sleepy-eyed young man. He carried no weapons and he wore a blue cloak. ''Magician.''


    He made his shikai turn back into an ordinary orange katana and threw a throwing knife. The magician widened his eyes as the knife approached yet managed to dodge the blade heading towards his face.


    Hastily chanting, the man pointed at Kira. ''Shit.'' Rolling forward, Kira felt a crackle as lightning flew overhead. He sprung up undeterred, aiming to take the mage''s life.


    "KIRA LOOK OUT!" Tohka shouted. It was the blonde girl. Kira turned just in time to block the longsword aimed for his face.


    ''She''s strong.'' Kira was forced to take a knee from the force. ''Where is the fuck is Clare?'' Kira looked over and saw that Clare was lying charred on the floor, twitching.


    ''Ahh shit. The lightning I dodged hit Clare. Fuck!


    "Chidori."


    The blonde girl noticed the electricity and tried to back, but Kira madly swiped his hand in an arc, destroying the girl''s right kneecap. He stood up, facing the magician.


    Tohka jumped into the air, trying to bring her broadsword to cleave the man in half. ''I love it when the red water come out.''


    Alas, the blow was parried by a sword. In her opinion, it wasn''t sword, BUT A GIANT-ASS HEAP OF RAW IRON.


    The man flung the lump if iron upwards, forcing Tohka to retreat.


    "How do you control that!?!" She looked at the sword- it must have weighed at least 500 pounds!


    The guy flexed, showing his muscles. "Training little girl."


    "Grrrrr. I''LL SHOW YOU!" She leapt at the man, swinging her broadsword left and right, yet the giant man blocked with ease. Suddenly he brought it overhead and swung it downwards.


    ''Don''t want to be blocking that!'' Tohka jumped to the side just as the thing came crashing down. She glanced at Kira.


    A blondie was running towards him, longsword raised. "KIRA LOOK OUT!" She shouted, hoping to save Kira.


    "Don''t get distracted little girl." Tohka jumped up, narrowly avoiding the horizontal swing coming from the side.


    "Don''t announce your attack!" An elegant voice came from sidelines, reminding her opponent.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.Tohka looked at who Esdeath was engaging in saber combat.


    "Why hello there my good lad-" He dodged a swipe. "It''s rude to interrupt someone mid-senten-" He dodged another swipe.


    "DAMMIT WOMAN!" He stopped and faced Esdeath.


    "Good. You stopped blabbering." Esdeath smirked and thrust her weapon forward.


    Her opponent parried and countered, but Esdeath jumped to the side. "I can control ice. Did you know that?" She twirled her saber. The man in front of her went into a fencer''s position.


    "En guard." With that, he attacked.


    The girl tried to stand, but Kira mercilessly kicked her in the face, knocking her out. He didn''t take his eyes off the magician and slowly walked towards him, weapon sheathed.


    The man started to back off and just when Kira was arms length away from him he attacked. Kira jerked back his head, narrowly avoiding the blow. The man''s hand flew in front of his eyes. ''Chidori!??! The man is using chidori!''


    Not letting this distract him, Kira waited for the perfect opportunity. He wouldn''t kill the man, but his counter attack would hurt.


    The man swiped again and again, yet hitting air each time. After the sixth swing, the man was clearly tired. Just as the magician swung once more, Kira waited until the hand had passed his face. Using the back of his blade, Kira mercilessly hit the man''s straightened elbow.


    "Arm broken. Six months."


    A scream escaped the man''s lips. He stumbled forward, and his stomach was hit by the back of a katana.


    "Internal injuries. Several months."


    Kira sheathed his katana and gabbed the man''s broken arm. Jerking sharply towards him, the man''s body went in front of him. He hit the back of the neck,  and calmly watched as the eyes rolled back. Dropping the magician on the floor, Kira stood, impassively watching his (temporary) comrades fight.


    Tohka whirled yet everytime she attacked her broadsword would be blocked. ''Grrr. Dammit. And here I thought I could show off to Kira.''


    "JUST DIE! HALVANHELEV!"


    A throne crashed into the ground. It broke into pieces and they formed to make a large katana.


    "I SHALL KILL YOU NOW!" Tohka screamed as she swung her weapon. "BRING IT ON!" The man shouted back. They both swung.

 Chapter 50

    Tohka POV


    ''I SHALL KILL THIS MOTHERFUCKER!''


    The man in front of me was a troublesome opponent. His sword was both his attack and his shield; my broadsword was far too short and slow to land an attack anywhere meaningful. He was far stronger than me, and his sword had a longer reach than mine.


    ''If I can''t reach him with my normal weapon, then halvanhelev should cut him and his sword apart.


    "I SHALL KILL YOU NOW!"


    Which was what I was doing now. I had summoned halvanhelev and swung it at my opponent. He shouted something and also swung his sword. Our swords met at the the middle.


    I will prove to Kira I am the best teammate!


    Third person POV


    The crowd watched in baited breath as the two heavy warriors clashed swords. Every time they did, the audience let out gasps of shock and awe.


    However, this clash was special. The girl clearly summoned her trump card and swung it.


    CLANG


    The brittle, metallic sound of sword on sword pummelled the ears of everyone listening. Such was the power. Yet, through squinted eyes, they watched what would happen next.


    They locked in stalemate but for a second. Then, the girl''s new weapon cut through her opponent''s sword!


    "I TOLD YOU WOULD KILL YOU!" With an almighty scream, she sliced the man''s head clean off.


    A moment''s shock, the experience yet to hit the audience and then...


    "YEAAAAHHHH!!!"


    "HOLY SHIT GIRL!"


    "YOU ROCK!!"


    Shouts and screams, all directed at Tohka. However, the shout that was most important to her, was lost in the midst of her praise.


    "TOHKA WATCH OUT!!"


    She finally heard it. Turning round, she was pierced by a man with flowing with hair and his saber. He smiled and pulled his saber out.


    The audience gasped, never had they seen such a spectacle. Coughing up blood, Tohka Yatogami fell.


    Kira snapped.


    Esdeath POV


    That fucker with the white hair ran away from me! He even stabbed the purple haired girl whilst he was at it!


    I take a step forward when suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder. ''I didn''t even hear him approach!''


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    "May I?" Kira pointed to the saber guy, who was smirking. The person who had his hand on my shoulder was obviously looking to kill him.


    "Sure." I step to the side before I notice something is wrong.


    He doesn''t have any bloodlust.


    ''That is bad- it shows he is trained and experienced.'' I grin at the thought of the final. ''He has already won.''


    He takes a deep breath and lets it out. ''Oh. He is going to release his bloodlust.'' Some fighters who have a lot of bloodlust go through a ritual. They seal all of their feelings and once the time is right, they release it.


    I prepare myself to feel his bloodlust.


    Then, I feel it.


    Rage, sadness and hatred. Bloodlust so pure yet refined and-and terrifying that I take a couple of steps back. My legs turned to jelly and give way, forcing me to fall on the ground. My hands start shaking, mostly in fear, but also in anticipation.


    Forcing myself to calm down, I breathed deeply in and out, yet the pressure Kira emitted was still slightly suffocating.


    I look up and see the white haired man crawling away from the slowly approaching Kira. He screamed, none of his earlier confidence showing.


    A throwing knife pinned his arm down, slicing through tendons. His other arm followed. ''He is going to torture him, not just kill him. Let''s see what techniques he uses.''


    The white haired man had already thrown away his saber as a sign of defeat. Kira stamped on the blade and broke it.


    ''Oh this will be good.'' I took out some food from my inventory as I start to watch the show.


    Third person POV


    "Let me tell you something." Kira spoke to the crying and immobile man. "I can handle you attacking me, Griffith. I can handle you running away from Esdeath. What I cannot stand, IS YOU STABBING TOHKA."


    He stood over the quivering Griffith. With his thumb, he cracked his index finger.


    "I want to be a doctor in the future. I have spent several months learning the names of the human body. How does this relate to our current situation I hear ask. Well, I will leave you half dead."


    He cracked his other index finger.


    "But what does half dead mean? If I chop you in half, you will not be able to function for the rest of your life. Slicing you from head to toe is out of the question; you''ll die. So, after some time, I decided on the bones."


    He sliced both of the man''s tendons at the ankles. The man was now powerless before him.


    The man screamed in pain, yet his screams fell on deaf, angry ears. Kira held up the man''s arm.


    "There are 206 bones in the human body. I shall break 103 of them."

 Chapter 51

    Third person POV


    Kira held up the arm of the immobile Griffith and looked over it, as though examining a delicate piece of artwork.


    "Starting from the arm, we shall go with the upper arm and the forearm first, then the hand."


    He snapped the man''s arm. Ignoring his screams, Kira continued.


    "There''s one bone, called the humorous,in the upper arm. The forearm is composed of two bones."


    The man kept screaming in pain, yet Kira was only just starting.


    "The bone is broke earlier on the pinky finger side is called the Ulna. The one on the thumb side that I''m going to break is called the radus."


    He savagely hit the bone, breaking it. The man''s screams rose in volume, yet the only one not shocked by them was Kira.


    "The hand bones are split into three different parts: The carpus, metacarpus and the phalanges."


    "There are eight bones making up the ''carpal'' group: The pisiform, the triquetrum, lunate, scaphoid, hamate, capitate, trapezoid and the trapezium."


    He snapped them all.


    "These bone are clustered together so they can all be broken together too." That was 10 bones so far.


    "The ''metacarpals'' are five bones numbered one to five." Kira finished the sentence by breaking said bones, making Griffith flail and scream in pain, and that was just fifteen bones.


    "There are three kinds of bone making up the ''phalanges'': The proximalis, distalis and the media. The thumb is the only bone without a distal bone." As each bone was named, so was it snapped, making 29 bones.


    "There are a total of fourteen bones making up the phalanges in one hand." The pain was so great the man began to froth, making several people faint in horror. Esdeath had awkwardly put away her food and instead began recording, even though there were probably countless others doing the same thing.


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    "If we ''finish breaking'' the humorous," With a snap of the said bone, he continued "Then we have gotten all thirty bones of the arm."


    Kira paused for a second, and Griffith started screaming profanities at the man who held his life in his hands.


    "Next, let''s do the leg." Kira stared with angry eyes as he stood up.


    "If we count the femur, then there are thirty bones just like in the arm. But if we include the sesamoid bones... then there are thirty two bones."


    As his hands reached out to start breaking the bones, Griffith suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.


    ''There ends autonomy 101 with a future doctor...'' Esdeath grimly thought. Her head was still looping the unfortunate man''s screams.


    ''Was that a forced log out, or did he die from pain?'' Kira looked around, yet there were no suspicious people who could have been GMs.


    He stood up and breathed out. Once he had calmed down, he faced Esdeath. "Sorry for the delay, but I hope you enjoyed my biology class today."


    Esdeath stood there frozen for a second before laughing. "Not as amusing as your so called information I hope." She looked at him.


    "Right then, I will honour my promise. What do you wish to know? There are certain things I can tell you, others... Not so."


    "Does he have an Endless online account?" Esdeath asked.


    Kira sighed. It was troublesome to have her out of all people, to find out. He closed his eyes.


    He slowly reached up to his face and took off his mask. "How does this help me?" Esdeath impatiently asked.


    "Does this answer then?" Kira asked, opening his eyes. His heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one blue, stared directly into Esdeath''s shocked face.


    He grinned, lightly spreading his arms. "Wanna fight?"

 Chapter 52

    Third person POV


    Kira stood facing a trembling Esdeath. "So... Is that a yes or no?"


    Esdeath looked down and closed her eyes. She tried calming herself down but it was clear from her trembling that it wasn''t working.


    "JOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHNNNNNN!!!!" Esdeath drew her saber and bounded towards Kira. The person in question drew his katana with a displeased expression. Blocking her mad swipe, he stared impassively at the uniformed girl.


    "Calm yourself Esdeath. You can''t enjoy a fight if you''re too angry." He smirked and pushed her blade back.


    She jumped backwards. The commentator and the shouts of the crowd were all but forgotten. She breathed out, forcing herself to calm down.


    "I apologize. I was just so excited to see you after all these years!"


    "More like enraged. How did you find me in real life? I didn''t tell you my school name."


    "Oh I transferred schools and once my new classmates asked me about someone I liked, I just mentioned your heterochromatic eyes and bam! Turns out I now go to your school." She smiled in happiness.


    "Well nothing I can do about it now."


    Esdeath''s smile turned from one of happiness into one of insanity.


    "NOW THEN, LET''S FIGHT!"


    Without waiting for a second longer Esdeath charged at Kira. Kira drew his sword in a flash, aiming for Esdeath''s head.


    She slid underneath the blade and swipe horizontally. Kira jumped, narrowly avoiding the blade. If he had been slower, then he would have been split right through his midriff.


    "GO ON ESDEATH-SAMA!"


    "KILL THE BASTARD!"


    "NO-ONE IS AS GREAT A YOU!"


    Kira smirked. "You''ve got a ton of subordinates. Esdeath. Where did you get them?" He pointed towards a section of the coliseum which was full of pale-blue uniforms.


    "I became a general in order to find you darling."


    "Although I''m flattered by it, no thank you!" With that, he threw throwing knives at Esdeath.


    "We''re fighting without magic alright!" Esdeath shouted as she jumped about to avoid the blades. "We''re keeping this real!"


    "Sure, why not?" He glanced at his inventory. ''Ah shit I ran out of knives.''


    "How about we spice things up a little?" Esdeath suddenly asked as she charged Kira.


    "Let''s do this!" Locking blades they looked each other in the eyes. "Your mad glint still hasn''t diminished at all!" Kira laughed.


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    "Yours has! WHY!?!?!" Esdeath shouted sadly. She suddenly stopped and reached for something in her inventory.


    "ACTIVATE FIELD CARD" She shouted and, pulling a card out of her inventory, raised it up high.


    "FIELD OF THE SWORD EMPEROR!"


    Slamming the card down, she looked up and grinned at Kira. "This should spice things up and get your lovely glint back!" She spoke in anticipation.


    Light burst from the card Esdeath was holding. It was so bright, it blinded Kira, Esdeath and everyone who was watching.


    When Kira opened his eyes, he was not standing in a sand filled coliseum, but a stone courtyard with burning red orbs scattered around him. Most importantly; katanas. They were imbedded everywhere- in the floor, in the walls and stuck in yellow tape.


    "How do you like it?" Esdeath''s voice drew Kira from his stupor. "Oh I do." Came the reply.


    "Well then, here I go!" With the last word, she charged. Kira jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the blade. Landing, he pulled out a sword and flung it Esdeath.


    "You''ll have to do more than that!" Avoiding the blade Esdeath shouted. "Come on! Where is the fighting you?!?! You would resort to range in real life now would you!?!?" She cackled as she reached Kira.


    Kira blocked her mad swipe and tried to make her overextend but that wouldn''t work on Esdeath. She quickly attacked again. Barely fending off her blows, Kira whistled.


    "You have improved since I last saw you, but I know your attacks."


    "Hmpf. Then I will show you a fake move!"


    She ran towards Kira brandishing her saber. Kira prepared himself.


    Esdeath and Kira swiped, yet both missed. Esdeath twisted her foot and spun in a wide circle, the saber getting closer and closer to Kira''s face.


    "Your swordsmanship is looking sluggish." Kira muttered.


    CLANG


    Metal clashed, amd no-one was hurt. Esdeath widened her eyes. "Irregular guarding!?!?"


    Kira was blocking Esdeath''s saber with the hilt of his katana. "That swordplay, it''s not you. That twisted attack was a fatal error."


    With that, he pushed Esdeath''s saber to the side and swung down.


    So did  everyone like last cchapter''s biology lesson? I certainly did! One thing, no, two things before I go: Firstly, please leave reviews and helpful comments on how to improve my story and what anime I should include next. Secondly, did anyone spot the hints? I will leave you to it then. See you next time! :P

 Chapter 53

    Third person POV


    A normal person would have been cut open by Kira''s swing. Esdeath, however, didn''t panic. As she stumbled back she grabbed a sword and took a knee, angling the katana downwards.


    Kira pressed on, and their blades met. He found his sword being blocked. Esdeath swiped low with her saber.


    Kira stabbed his katana down, blocking the swipe and kicked Esdeath in the face. She rolled back, discarding the katana.


    "You would kick a woman!?!?" She dramatically exclaimed. "You''re trying to kill me. I am not a gentleman when it comes to killing people." Kira snorted.


    "Well then," Esdeath stood up and went into a fencer''s position. "En garde." She waited until Kira was five meters in front if her before unleashing a frenzied attack.


    She swiped left, right, upwards and downwards, yet Kira managed to block them all.


    Esdeath laughed. "THIS IS WHAT I''M TALKING ABOUT!"


    Kira was grinning slightly. Esdeath was a person who had duelled him once before. Both Kira and Esdeath were raised on martial arts, and the first time they clashed was fours years ago. Both were thought to be talented. Their families were friendly, yet had a fierce rivalry.


    "Is that all you have?" He taunted Esdeath. "Are you mocking me?" She swiped and Kira dodged backwards. "No, obviously not."


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    Esdeath stepped forward, aiming for his head. Kira angled the blade horizontally above his head.


    They both jumped back, wanting to see who was better. They stopped three meters away from each other, just out of sword reach.


    "Reap, heaven''s wheel."


    Kira finally revealed his shikai. He spun the blades, hoping to confuse Esdeath. He swung upwards and as soon as he felt that Esdeath blocked he immediately switched his direction of attack.


    "That is a great weapon, Kira." Esdeath complemented. "Thank you. Please die."


    "No thanks." Esdeath wryly smiled as she kept blocking. She wouldn''t admit it, but the unending attacks were forcing her to keep blocking and not attack. Esdeath did not like that.


    She jumped back and grabbed a katana. "Now we wield the same number of blades." She laughed and attacked.


    Sorry that this chapter is so short. I was rather busy and couldn''t type anymore. Fortunately, I will go on half term break for a week. I won''t post but I will type more chapters! Until then!