ROYAL ROAD: The Adventures of Four

[Tetsu]

Havoc was glad that they can finally begin the quest. However, they were struck with a simple problem "Who's going to be the leader?". For a regular party, it's usually the one with the highest level. Because they have higher stats in luck, exp, loots and goind coins increases. However, since they are rather new in the game, no one among them has even gotten past level one. He sighed as he listen everyone talk.

 

"Err... according to my previous game experiences, it's good to have ranged players as party leaders. Since in a fight where the party leader must not die - yess.. quests like that exists- a ranged player has a better survivability than a melee one. So... I'm out. Jimahe doesn't seem to like it. Well, it's probably good. That way he can monitor our status and heal us at effective times. I leave the decision to you two. I favor whoever is picked." he spoke as he looked at the location of the quest where there was a girl playing.

 

"Besides... we don't have much to do. The little girl... well... I see foxes on the way to her" he said as he grabbed his wooden sword.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe stared at Hyuki with hope-filled eyes before his body visibly relaxed. "You could? Really?" He asked with a definitely happier voice just before he heard what Havoc said. He let out a soft huff and placed his hands on his hips. "Isn't there, like, an archer class or something? Wouldn't it be the best choice? Any of you?.." He trailed off while looking at Vite Morta and Hyuki.

 

Only then did he realize Hyuki gave him a nickname. "Wait... Ji-chan?" He repeated with furrowed brows and frowned the slighest bit. "Can't you give me a, I don't know... Less girly nickname?" He asked quietly - not that he had anything against females, just... The nickname sounded weird, and it didn't suit him at all. Not in the slightest.

 

After that, he turned to Havoc and huffed softly as he took the staff out of his inventory. "I have no idea how to use this thing, but alright. I'm sure I can hit the foxes as least." He joked lightly as he smiled, before realizing that somewhere there should be a list of his attacks... Right?

 

With a small, barely noticeable pout on his face, Jimahe began searching for something like a tablet or anything like that where his attacks could possibly be listed. When he finally found on what seemed like it, he let out a satisfied breath and smiled slightly to himself as his possible attacks were listed out.

 

[table=width: 500, class: grid]

[tr]

[td][Heal][/td]

[td]Use [Healing] chant on the user you wish to use this on.[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td][Freeze][/td]

[td]Use [Freezing] chant on the user you wish to use this on.[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td][Paralyze][/td]

[td]Use [Paralyzing] chant on the user you wish to use this on.[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td][Debuf][/td]

[td]Use [status Healing] chant on the user you wish to use this on.[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

 

*Note: Chants may be found in any shop. Begginer chants [Healing], [Freezing], [Paralyzing], [status healing] may be bought for 0 gold.*

 

Jimahe stared at the note pop-up before finally, something in his mind clicked. He quickly closed everything and smiled brightly at the other members. "I'll get right back, gotta get my chants~" He chuckled lightly at how silly that sounded and, without waiting for any response, ran off to the nearest shop.

[Keru-chan]

"Well, I can agree with Hyuki-san. Since no one else does, I can be appointed default leader but I favour the whole decision making with everyone. Since I am a newbie with games in general I need some help anyway". "Err... according to my previous game experiences, it's good to have ranged players as party leaders. Since in a fight where the party leader must not die - yess.. quests like that exists- a ranged player has a better survivability than a melee one. So... I'm out. Jimahe doesn't seem to like it. Well, it's probably good. That way he can monitor our status and heal us at effective times. I leave the decision to you two. I favor whoever is picked" . Well well, it seemed like his words had reached his team mates. And luckily enough, no one would come with complains about the leader position. Usually though, there was always someone being unhappy about the leader in a party. It was unavoidable, if of course every person you invited is jerks who thinks highly of themselves. "You could? Really?", even Jimahe seemed to brighten up quite a bit after being relieved off the leader position. Which was good, this party was a promising one.

 

A cool breeze swept over the land and his lynx ears flickered back and forth as he perceived even the smallest sounds that the other ones probably didn't even notice. Was it like this it felt to be a animal? In that case he liked it, being able to experience so much more of the world (though in this case it was a virtual one). It made him almost wish that he had been born as an animal instead. Their lives was surely so much more, simple. "Well I am actually planning on choosing the archer class, as you maybe can see" The boy turned a bit to show off the bow, the arrows and the quiver. He shrugged his shoulders, "But, I guess it's up to you Vi-chan. For me it doesn't really matter, if you don't want to I can do it".

 

"Can't you give me a, I don't know... Less girly nickname?". Hyuki frowned and narrowed his bright red eyes before resting his gaze over the man. "What? You don't like it? You wanna be called Jimahe-san instead? No no, that won't do. Ji-chan it is, besides it's just a game. No need for formalities here, and you can call me whatever you want too so it's completely fair" he smiled vaguely, it was almost like a small teasing grin that his pale lips formed. But soon enough next subject was brought up and he rather quickly placed his hand on the top of the bow and reached back for an arrow. God, it felt so real. Lightly he let his fingertips touch one if the two wooden arrow, only touch it. And just as he had expected, it was like he had returned to the archery club house in his old school in South Korea. This game really was something else.

 

Suddenly though, Ji-chan ran off. Leaving them there with the words "gotta go and get my chants". But waiting now? Hell no, he would not repeat a beginner mission. He had never done it before, and he wouldn't do it now. He sighed "We can't wait for Ji-chan, the girl is going to get eaten. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to repeat the first quest in this game". The boy began to walk in the direction of the girl, his tail doing small circles in the air as he took out one arrow and then prepared to shoot. Aimed at the first fox that was closing in on the girl and then, fired the wooden arrow that hit the fox in the side of its body. A shrill sound left the fox as it then rolled on the ground one time and the total damage on it beside the scale of total HP it had. Nearly half of the HP scale was emptied after his first attack. Hyuki smiled and quickly prepared next arrow as the fox stood up and then began to run towards him.

[InkompleteWish]

Vita Morte decided not to say much and instead listened to the others. Their point of view was right and a ranged class would probably be one of the better choices and since Jimahe seemed to hate being appointed leader that left only the lynx and the dark elf. Though he reeled back a little at the nickname he received too. Vi-chan. Hmm, it sounded like a girls name especially with the suffix '-chan'. But Vita guessed it didn't matter. This was only a game and if the other wanted to call him that then so be it. Though 'Ji-chan' wasn't really happy about the name apparently. "Well then. Since we will make decisions together anyway I guess I will be the party leader. I don't mind the responsibilities that come with it. I am kinda used to it anyway." the blindfolded dark elf said and crossed his arms. Though he wanted to escape his life as a mafia leader he guessed he can still be a party leader in a plain game. Especially since they can swap the leadership if Vita doesn't prove to be a good leader or if someone finally wants to lead. Due to his advantage with his class skills later on it might even be better for him to be the leader.

 

During the time that he walked around with the other group of adventurers, they told him a bit about his favoured class Sage including the beginner spells. The skeleton helped keeping the enemies away from himself and he had a buff spell as well as a spell that saved him if the worst should happen. So in a sense he was better guarded (concerning his spells) then any of the other three. The archer might attack from afar and has some moves to escape enemies; it still was a class that can be easily killed. The sage class was at the beginning a bit trickier to defeat it seemed, making it also one of the harder classes. The party also told him a bit about the dark elves in general. Absentmindedly he touched the horns on his hand and the blindfold. His ears were pointed and he could hear a bit better than a normal human. It still couldn't keep up with Hyuki's lynx ears though. But in a sense he was happy to choose the dark elf. It was not entirely different than a human but it did proved to be quite an adventure in itself. He wondered if he could also sprout wings sooner or later. If he remembered right dark elves were a mixed breed between normal elves and demons. But then again, he would probably also have a demon tail and he could easily take a pass on that. No, horns and his glowing eyes were enough. Thank you very much.

 

He only noticed now that Jimahe ran away to get his chants. Leaving the three of them behind. Though the leadership could still wait, Hyuki and Havoc were right. If they didn't hurry the girl might die. "Then I guess we should teach it a lesson before we lose the quest." the dark elf agreed and drew his own staff. A little ball of energy flew towards the fox in an amazing speed and did enough damage to let its health bar sink until it only had a quarter left. His normal attacks weren't really strong apparently, so Vita Morte couldn't wait to finally get his skills. It didn't seem to be over with just one fox though. Soon enough the creature was joined by three others.

[Tetsu]

"Let's get ready! Back me up. This foxes can be annoying" Havoc said as he ran straight to the herd of foxes. Of course, even if they were mere foxes, in great numbers, they could be dangerous. Havoc swayed and slain foxes. However, his reaction and motor skills is still getting used to the new environment. From what he is experiencing. There's a very small time lag between thinking of moving from moving itself. Therefore, If he thought of evading, he'd be only be able to evade a fraction of second later.

 

Tanking while almost bare naked with equipments was a laughable thing. Havoc's life was almost in the red zone and if it kept on going, he'd die. With no other option, he stepped back and planned on using an >. It was too precious to use early on but it was better than dying. As he scanned his inventory, he noticed the skills tab. Curious, he opened it and found something quite useful.

>

 

When Havoc roamed on his inventory and in his skills tab, he found three skills. He had not seen this before... well, it's not like he had seen the skills tab before. Maybe it's only accessible during battle. He's not too sure though. But having these skills will be helpful to him.

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]SKILLS

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]SKILL TYPE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]DESCRIPTION

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Swordsman's Oath

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]PASSIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Increase agility, defense and offense

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Swordsman's Wrath

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]PASSIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Increases critical chance. Critical's damage is increased by 10%

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Cross Slash

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]ACTIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Slashes vertically and followed by a horizontal slash almost instantly

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

"Here I come! Cross Slash!" he yelled as he attacked the fox with HP on the red zone. It was the fox that was attacked by Vita a while ago. Killing one didn't matter much though. there were still too many for them to handle. Jimahe better be back soon or he'll really have to use the HP potion.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe was quick with buying the chants he needed - well, not really buying. After all, they cost him nothing, thankfully! The young male smiled when he quickly activated all of the chants so they would be accesible quickly when he needed. The green-haired male then ran back to all of the party members only to find them fighting already.

 

His soft eyes immediately turned to Havoc who seemed to be in a bit of a trouble. Jimahe began the [Healing] chant immediately, hoping that no fox decided to attack him until he was done. The process seemed awfully slow, but... He at least kept Havoc from dying like this. He watched how his health bar slowly went back to orange, then yellow, and finally green. Right after he was done with that, a fox decided to jump on him.

 

The green-haired male barely managed to use the [Paralyzing] chant on it and watched with wide eyes as it fell to the ground, its body twitching lightly. It seemed he couldn't really do damage to it like this, but he could make it motionless for at least a while. Deciding to finish off at least one, Jimahe quickly scanned through the attacks' list before realizing he could, just as Vita Morte, shoot little energy balls from his staff. Two of them were enough to finish off the fox.

 

All the while, Jimahe was still looking at each of the party member to be ready whenever they needed help. For now it was really slow, but he could at least help out a bit in such a way. It was how he always preffered to play..

[Keru-chan]

The young lynx boy quickly finished off his victim in front of him that then crashed on the ground by his feet and disintegrated to only leave a little bag after. Hyuki crouched down to grab the bag as suddenly, he was attacked from the side. His ears flickered and by quickly throwing himself forward he managed to escape the fox sharp fangs. He rolled once before hastily crawling up to stand and then shoot at the fox and dodge its flying body that in a attempt to harm him had left the ground.

Clicking up the others stats he once in a while glanced at them. Watched closely if anyone seemed to be in need of help as he continued to fight. Well, he himself hadn't lost that much of his HP thanks to his senses. And the fact that he constantly kept up his distance with the enemy. Which gave him a good opportunity to check out what he could use in battle.

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]SKILLS

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]SKILL TYPE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]DESCRIPTION

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Body of Stone

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]PASSIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Increases defense by making the users skin stronger for a little while. Though he can't move under this moment and movements becomes a little sluggish afterwards.

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Featherlight

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]PASSIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Makes user and weapon lighter and movements and attacks faster.

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Whirlwind

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]ACTIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]A effective spin attack to harm many enemies at once.

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

After having closed the window with his skills he was surprised by something big that came straight for him and then attacked him rather brutally. He could feel the fangs that sunk down in his shoulder and the claws scratching momentarily at his body before leaving him there on the ground with dangerously low HP. "Aish! Chincha?!" The archer frustratingly burst out in korean before heaving himself up only to have to roll on the ground again since the fox came again. "Jeez, aren't they going to end soon?" He continued to complain and picked up his bow to then fire a shaky arrow that buried itself in the fox right front leg. And under that time he managed to get up. He couldn't feel any pain but he was bleeding.

As the used arrow reappeared in his quiver he had already picked out a new and with a lightly shaking hand he aimed at his enemy who was circulating around him. Both of them were hurt. And both of them seemed to be ready for anything. The thing was though, that if he didn't hit he would probably die. He let the arrow go and the fox attacked. The teenager drew a sharp breath and took a few steps backwards as the fox fell to the ground. With a sigh of relief he sunk down on his knees. His HP was steadily decreasing. Apparently, it was connected to the fact that he was bleeding. He also felt weaker. "Ji-chan! Some assistance please?" He said with a light chuckle and cleared his throat.

[InkompleteWish]

Vita watched the battle progress, attacking now and then. His auto attacks weren't really strong however so he couldn't do much. It was a bit frustrating to say the least. He could only look on how Havoc's and Hyuki's life war was slowly turning to red. It didn't stop him from attacking the foxes though; Vita had a good vision over the battle field from the place he was staying at. He saw the girl covering in fear to his right and noticed that one of the foxes advanced towards here sneakily. Without wasting time he attacked that fox and ran towards it. The creature only yelped when it was hit by one of his attacks and easily switched targets. It didn't loose much help obviously but it was a bit different than the other foxes he noticed. It was a darker shade and seemed a bit bigger. The beast advanced towards the dark elf but he didn't shout for help from his party members. Both of them were in trouble themselves so they couldn't help him too. Besides, he soon noticed that at least Havoc's life bar turned green again. //So Jimahe made it in time. Thank god.// he thought and readied himself for the big fox. The dark elf wasn't strong like Havoc and neither was he agile as Hyuki but if there was one think he was good at it was to think about strategies and avoid attacks. With a graceful sidestep he evaded the incoming attack, only getting a scratch on his shoulder, and did the only thing he could in this situation: He hit it with his stuff.....hard. Due to the fact that he was at the foxes' flank he was able to hit one of its weak points and tumbled to the ground.

 

Of course the dark elf was smarter then to wait for his opponent to regain his senses. He made a grab for the girl and hoisted it over his shoulder and turned around to make his way towards his comrades again. If the girl was out of danger then they were able to fight better. After arriving at a safer area behind his comrades he put he girl down and looked her over for injuries. She might be an NPC but Vita cared none the less. After making sure she was okay the dark elf began browsing through his menu to find the skill tab. After seeing Havoc use a sword technique he couldn't believe that he had nothing at all.

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]SKILLS

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]SKILL TYPE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]DESCRIPTION

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Dark Heritage

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]PASSIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Due to the demonic blood in the body the user receives a little boost on his magic powers. Making his basic attacks as well as his spells or chants a bit more effective against enemies.

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Power of the mist

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]PASSIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Raises evasion rate to enemy attacks due to the fact that the user is tightly connected to the netherworld.

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Life Trade

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]ACTIVE

[/TD]

[TD=align: center]The user gives a fixed amount of his own HP to a chosen target. Weak at the beginning.

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

It seemed like the did have some 'handy' skills from level one. At least like this he could help his team more. Thankfully these spells didn't need scrolls. These were race based abilities it seemed. Vita promptly chanted his 'Life Trade' spell and pointed his staff towards Hyuki. A part of his own life bar sunk due to that and Hyuki's own slowly crawled to orange again. But the other was still bleeding. "Hyuki, use your bandages. They stop the bleeding!" he shouted towards his comrade and made haste to walk before him. His own health bar was orange at the moment but that wasn't important. Vita had to lure the attention of the foxes to himself or to Havoc since the other seemed to be a bit sturdier. It wasn't good if the enemies focus their weaker links; health and armour wise.

 

The beast from earlier, Vita noted, was back up on its feet and began walking towards them again. It was the boss apparently, being different and all and it was probably also included in the quest to slay the beast.

[Tetsu]

Havoc fought and fought until his HP turned to ten digit numbers. He would probably die should a fox hit him twice. At worse, if a fox hit him with critical damage, he'd die in a single attack. Thankfully, Jimahe came back and healed him. 3% ...10%...15%...30%. It wasn't much but it was enough for him to go back to battle. At least, Jimahe was there to heal him again should his HP go to red zone again. But he must still be careful. If he's low on life and the Heal spell is on cooldown, he;ll die even with a healer.

 

"Sankyuu Jimahe." he said as he slashed one dying fox. Just like a broken mirror, the fox's image scattered into the air before completely disappearing.

 

"We need to wipe them out soon! The day is already ending. More foxes might come later on. And with low vision we'll be in the disadvantage" Havoc yelled. He know he's not in charge, but he has to say that. Fighting with everything he had. He activated his passive skill > a skill that increases critical chance while increasing critical damage output by 10 percent. Critical damage usually deals 200% damage, but with his skill, the output is in 210%.

 

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe winced at the sound of Hyuki asking for help. He raised the staff and once again began the [Healing] chant. He watched how the other's health slowly rose... Slower than before? Yes, it was definitely slower. Damn it... The green-haired male felt guilty already. His healing skills weren't good enough! Just then, he was attacked by a fox. Since he was concentrating on healing his party member, Jimahe was knocked down easily, causing him to lose at least half of his HP. He felt terrified. He couldn't heal himself. Frantically using the [Paralyzing] chant on the fox, he killed it the same way as the one before.

 

His eyes were filled with terror as he looked around, noticing that Vita Morte had gotten the girl to safety. He was about to go against that nasty-looking fox... Was that the boss? Shit. Jimahe hurriedly ran over to Vita, getting ready to help him out. His lips were trembling, so he didn't dare even say anything. If anyone needed his help again, they'd call out anyway. Right now he didn't even need to talk. The point was to help everyone else... And not die himself.

[Keru-chan]

Suddenly his HP started to increase. Somewhat confused the half human raised his head to meet the dark elf's gaze. Or well at least he could assume that the other one was looking at him since his head was turned in his direction. "Oh? So the dark elf has a healing skill? Handy" he softly chuckled and then opened his inventory to click on the Bandage icon. Immediately a bandage roll dropped down from above and he quickly caught it before rolling it out and then started to bind his shoulder, then suddenly a vague blue light shone from the bandage. He glanced up to notice that his HP didn't decrease anymore. Which obviously meant that it worked. With the end of his arrow he cut off the bandage that he had wrapped around his shoulder and arm, then suddenly a buckle appeared of nowhere and fastened the bandage. Seemed like he was ready to fight again.

 

"Thank you~" he said with a slight smirk as he then positioned himself in a crouching position. Almost like he charged himself with energy before he leapt forward into the air. At the same time he activated his > skill and thereafter >. And suddenly he began to spin in the air. A rather strong but small tornado then formed itself around him with his body being it's core and he stretched out his leg to then place a harsh kick on the beast's back. Thereafter he quickly jumped away as the wind disappeared but he continued to move. He quickly grabbed his bow, aimed for the beast and then fired an arrow. At the same time another wolf came from his side and tried to jump on him. Making a quick turn, lowered his right hand to the ground for some support he then swinged his leg on the wolf's jaw. Making it fly backwards and then roll on the ground. Though his attacks was seemingly powerful it seemed like they didn't deal that much damage as he wanted. He raised his bow once again to fire a arrow at the wolf he had kicked off and quickly finished it with a head shot before he then spun around and continued to run "I'll take out the small fries and protect Ji-chan, focus on the boss!" He said, sliding to Jimahe's side in exact right moment to protect him from a wolf that had been targeting him from behind. The lynx breathed out in a soft gasp as he observed how his arrow buried itself deep within the wolf's chest making it disintegrate. Seemed like it had already been hurt by someone else before so what he had done was basically just finishing uncompleted work. "Yo Ji-chan, you ready? It's now the fun stuff starts" the boy smiled and gave the healer a light push with his elbow before raising his bow again. Then at that moment his > skill became available once again after the cool down was done and instead the > skill went on cool down. It seemed like the first quest had been more than just getting some kid home.

[InkompleteWish]

"No problem." he answered the lynx and focused on the boss again. Upon closer inspection the monster had a large exclamation mark above its head; it was probably the main part of the quest to kill the boss. "Guys, i think if we kill this one we will finish the quest." he shouted towards the others and raised his staff to attack the beast running towards him. He just hoped that the others would be able to follow. Though he was the leader in name it was clear that Vita didn't have much experience in gaming. In the mafia world there was almost never an open fight, it was always hidden. A gun here and a gun there. You get the point. The dark elf had to accept that games were a challenge in general. But now was not the time to think about the differences of real life and a gaming world.

 

With Jimahe and Hyuki in his back he was able to concentrate on the boss. But Vita wasn't a melee class so he didn't have a choice but to avoid the attacks most of the time and he was barely able to hurt the boss. He just hoped that Havoc would attack the boss soon. There was only so much a level 1 dark elf can do. If he were to be surrounded it would probably be harder to evade and his own health bar was already orange due to the use of his 'Life Trade' earlier on.

[Tetsu]

Now that Havoc's health is full again, he can tank for the team again. He rushed towards Morte Vita's location and parried with the boss. His passive skill has a cooldown so it won't be a good idea for the battle to be prolonged.

 

"Morte, can yousecure the girl to safety? I'll deal with melee battle, but my passive skill will run out soon so heal me up when you can... guys" he said as he started inflicting damage to the boss. The boss was intensively tenacious and the damage he was giving was very small. On the other hand, the damage he was receiving was bigger compared to the normal fox. At every single attack he took, he lose around 5 to seven percent of his health. If this goes on... he'd die even before his passive skill deactivates for cooldown.

 

"Damn this....!" With no other choice, havoc attacked the enemy with his wooden sword without defending himself. That way, he can inflict more damage but they have to kill the boss before his HP run out. He's not alone anyway.

 

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe huffed softly when Hyuki landed next to him with those words. "I'm the one protecting you, not the other way around!" He argued with a pout as he used chants on the foxes, at least stopping them for the moment. His eyes fell onto Havoc, carefully observing how much health he had.

 

"Hyuki, cover me a bit! I'm gonna heal Havoc." He said loud enough for the half-lynx to hear. Steadying himself on the ground, Jimahe began using his [Healing] chant on Havoc, at least keeping the health bar steady while he continued receiving damage. His healing skills weren't the best... He couldn't really do that much for now.

 

But that didn't stop him from trying. His body grew shaky as he continued using his skill. He felt as if all of his power was slowly sucked out. The green-haired male didn't notice a fox jumping onto him thanks to that. A yelp left his mouth as he was tackled to the ground, his health gradually decreasing until he managed to push the fox off and kill it. He was left at 20% health after this... One more attack and he would be dead.

[Keru-chan]

"Well you can't protect us if you're dead" the half lynx male said with a light chuckle and fired an arrow that fended off another fox. It wasn't that much left now and those who still remained was a little more, cautious than their comrades have been. A feature that Hyun Ki very much enjoyed. In almost all games he had played, most monsters after having been hit usually just kept attacking the player. Then there were those that would attack you anyway when you come too close. So seeing that the monsters was acting in a slightly more, smart way made everything feel just more alive. It surely would be easy to forget that it actually was nothing more than a game.

 

Taking a step back closer to the Healer he tried his best to protect him. But it was hard to take care of yourself and protect the male at the same time. Which of course led him to receive damage anyway. "Aish, here" he said as a small bottle appeared in his hand with a strange liquid in it and he handed it to the Healer. "You better take it now before dying, it's one of my HP potions. No time to rest Ji-chan so just drink it", the rather short player flashed the green haired male a small smile before going back to kill the rest of the small fries. Hoping that he soon would be able to join Vita and Havoc in the battle against the boss.

[InkompleteWish]

"Aye." Morte replied to Havoc question and escorted the girl to safety. For that he had to leave their little battle stance and was vulnerable for the foxes. Some even ran after him but Hyuki successfully hindered them from attack him or the girl. Soon enough the girl was out of the battle map and Vita made haste to return to their battle formation. He killed one of the smaller foxed when they tried to sneak up to Havoc again. Hyuki and Jimahe were a bit away from Havoc and himself so he only noticed that they were in danger too when Jimahe's health dropped low. But there wasn't much he could do. He did have his 'Life Trade' but he didn't have much mana anymore either. And Havoc needed his help more at the moment so he sighed in relief when he heard the lynx giving the other a health potion.

 

So he focused his attention to Havoc and the boss again and other small foxes that tried to defend their boss. He started attack them to lure them away from their current 'tank'. Thanks to his passive 'Dark Heritage' he was able to kill them faster and was soon able to help the other in the fight against the boss. He was only able to attack with his normal attacks since he didn't learn any damage spell yet. When he noticed that Havoc's health was dropping again, he used his 'Life Trade' until the other's health was full again. That cost him most of his own health however and he was in the red already. Since the spell did exactly how it sounded it left Vita also fatigued but thanks to their earlier fights there weren't much smaller foxes around so Vita didn't bother with taking a potion. Though the boss did seem to want to attack him, Havoc always fought of its attacks. So he guessed it was okay to say that he was safe for now. "Jimahe, concentrate on healing Havoc, don't mind me. Hyuki, when you're done with the smaller ones try and help to fight the boss. I try to support all of you if smaller ones should come." he shouted towards his team mates. Thanks to his other passive 'Power of the mist' he would be able to distract the smaller ones without getting damage and he would also be able to kill them probably. So the other three of their group should concentrate on the boss.

[Tetsu]

Havoc's HP reached as low as 3 percent. Seriously,he thought he was going to die. Well, it was his first time in the game and dying early will not be a problem. Only, hes not sure if the quest will be accessible again. The big fox jumped on him and attempted to bite him by the neck. Escape was impossible but thanks to Jimahe, he survived the blow... but his HP went to the orange zone, only a little bit higher than its previous state.

 

"Thanks Jimahe! That saved me!"

Havoc went back into the do or die battle with the fox. His HP was slowly diminishing again. However, the same can be said to the fox. His life was about 40 percent only in a few while... they'd be able to defeat it. his HP went back into the red zone again... but thankfully Morte healed him up with some spell. Though, since Morte was not a healer... he probably sacrificed his own health for him. He needed to finish the fox off for the teamwork the guys are showing.

 

Havoc pierced his one sword over the fox's eyes. Unlike his body, the eyes had big damage. after one thrust, the fox received about 7 percent damage. It must have been his weakness. He tried to went for the same area, but the fox was agile enough to evade it. It was too bad, but at least he found out something useful.

 

"Guys... concentrate on the eyes! It's the boss weakness!!" he yelled as he once again attempted to attack.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe stared at Hyuki for a while, hesitant to accept the potion. He didn't want to make it seem like he was just an unnecessary person in the party, who always used up the potions and didn't do much himself. Yet still, he needed this desperately... But he had his own for that. "Keep it for yourself. I've got my own to use." The green-haired male said and pulled out a bottle of his inventory, quickly drinking it. The taste was just like water's... Nothing special, but his health returned to green, now at 60%. He could finish up the battle like this...

 

That was when he realized Havoc thanked him, and Vita Morte seemed to put his trust in him as a healer. Feeling some confidence rising in him, the man relaxed visibly as he, while fending off the foxes, sometimes healed up Havoc. When he was freed up, the Elf used his [Paralyzing] chant on the boss, succesfully making it unable to move for a while. "Guys, this is your chance!" He yelled out quickly, immediately fighting off some of the smaller foxes.

 

If the others managed to kill off the boss like this... He would be definitely satisfied.

[Keru-chan]

The young male raised his eyebrow before a light hearted chuckle slipped past his lips and he released the bottle that thereafter disappeared into thin air. "Alright then~" he mumbled and threw a glance at the boss' HP. And after having realised that it wasn't that much left of it a wry grin appeared on his lips and as Havoc had ordered them too he aimed for its eyes. One arrow, two arrows he shot. One burrying itself deeply into the fox' eye, making it cry as his other arrow hit its leg. Taking away quite an amount of hp when compared to the effect his earlier attacks had. "We can do this~" He whispered under his breath with a definitely much more determined glimpse in his crimson red eyes.

 

The lynx moved back and forth, firing his arrows towards the boss in an attempt to corner it for his team mates as he at the same time hoped to do some damage. Suddenly the fox froze, it's body somewhat lowered closer to the ground in a hostile position, it's eyes wide open and the jaws parted, baring the sharp teeth. At first he was shocked, thinking that it was a trick but at the sudden exclaim from Jimahe he raised his bow and fired the two arrows he currently possessed. Slowly the hp decreased and decreased until it reached 0. An intoxication of happiness ran throughout his body together with a slight relief as he finally let the bow sink to the side of his body. Heavily panting as he glanced up at his HP and Mana. Honestly, the battle had lasted much longer than he had expected. In other games he had played he was used with easy quests first like delivering something to a certain person or just talk to someone. To think that the developers had decided to make a rough start, that was indeed a bold decision. Though it neccesarily wasn't good either. Even though his own interest was raised for the game as well as his expectations there was still people that didn't have such good patience. And patience was something that seemed to be needed.

[InkompleteWish]

While the others were also focusing the boss now, Vita made sure that the smaller ones didn't get any closer. Though he wondered how many would continue to spawn until the boss was defeated. It seemed to be part of the quest to 'ignore' the smaller ones and go for the boss instead. So he didn't have a choice but to keep the smaller ones away while the other three finished off the boss. Vita Morte trusted his new party members that they would kill the boss as fast as possible. During his own little fights he often looked towards his group to make sure they were okay. Thankfully it seemed like they didn't really need his help. The boss was soon paralyzed and coated with attacks. It didn't take long for him to drop to zero.

 

During that time, Vita finished the small foxes and waited for new ones to spawn. But they never did, as soon as the boss was defeated the remaining ran away. So they fulfilled the quest. With a sigh he rubbed his forehead. That was harder than he thought and it was just the beginner quest. Thankfully he found a party before he entered the map. The dark elf made his way towards his comrades and congratulated them with a smile. "Good job guys. That was a pretty long fight." he stated and looked at his own health, it was still red but now that they were out of combat it slowly refilled itself. He wasn't wounded so he didn't have to take a potion or bandages. He decided to just let it refill itself. "I think that was the end of the quest. I would advise to return to the old man and rest up." he suggested. Vita wasn't sure if their party would stay together but he hoped so actually. Though they were all different, their teamwork in this fight was pretty good. With a bit of training they would surely be one of the best.

[Tetsu]

The fight didn't last long when Havoc found out the Boss Fox's weakness. The group found themselves a role to play - Havoc playing as a support and tank to the rest should the paralysis status wears off. When the boss' HP bar reaches to zero, it started to scatter into glass like pieces. The fight felt forever. Now thinking about it, it didn't seem to be a normal quest for beginners. To have a boss battle this early point of the game rather seems strange. Well, maybe they need to ask around.

 

*trring*

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD]BATTLE ENDED! Your party have defeated the Boss Fox! As a reward, each will receive the following loot[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][Fox meat]x10, [Fox Belt], [Agility Sword/Staff/Bow] and the > item [boss Fox Fur][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

*trriing!*

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]For defeating a Boss in Rare Class, you gained 1200 EXP and +5 to all stats.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center] You are now Level 5! You can upgrade your skills and unlock new skills in the skills window! You have 15 undistributed points in the Status window![/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

"Woah! Guys. Isn't this a jackpot?"

Havoc was both surprised and overjoyed. The fight was hard, so he did expect a few more loots than the ordinary. However, they received quite a lot of them. Was the quest meant to be something special? They need to find it out. Checking his skills window, there was a new skill available to use. However, he opted not to unlock it first as the points needed will consume most of his skill points. In games like this, it's better to save up skill points first then decide which to choose when you have more options.

 

"Errr... guys, sorry but I gotta leave the party"

 

In the midst of celebration, Havoc heard of a not-so-good news. A team member of theirs - Hyuki - has announced of leaving the team. Havoc turned to face the lynx, wanting to see for himself the reason he's leaving in spite of the recent victory and the loot they received.

 

"Why? Haven't we all been enjoying this?"

 

Havoc asked, regretting that a friend and a party member they recently met is going to leave them. It would be such a big blow to the team, since the guy was pretty decent in fighting. It would be hard for them to go on should they continue partying together from now on.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe continued fending off the smaller foxes until suddenly all of them began running away. His eyes instantly turned to the boss while a grin stretched out on his face. They won! They finished the quest! And with his help, too... Him paralyzing the boss was exactly what helped them defeat it! God, he could scream in joy! Or cry, those two maybe would even go together. The green-haired male didn't realize when exactly did he end up sitting on the ground, but it happened... Well, it wasn't that bad or weird; not at all.

 

*trring*

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD]BATTLE ENDED! Your party have defeated the Boss Fox! As a reward, each will receive the following loot[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][Fox meat]x10, [Fox Belt], [Agility Sword/Staff/Bow] and the > item [boss Fox Fur][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

*trriing!*

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]For defeating a Boss in Rare Class, you gained 1200 EXP and +5 to all stats.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center] You are now Level 5! You can upgrade your skills and unlock new skills in the skills window! You have 15 undistributed points in the Status window![/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

Jimahe's smile widened further as he looked over the notices, curiosity in his eyes while he stared at the name of the rare item. "So, um... What do we do with that fur?" He questioned with a laugh while setting the new staff as his weapon. So this thing added agility? He never really got how those stats worked but whatever.

 

His mood dropped suddenly and harshly when he heard Hyuki. Turning to the human-lynx, the elf looked honestly upset. "Yeah, why leave? I thought we would, you know, stay together..." Jimahe sounded really sad and somewhat distressed as he sat on the ground, the staff laying across his thighs as he stared at it. Sometimes he could act like a child - not always, and not in the annoying way for sure.

[InkompleteWish]

*trring*

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD]BATTLE ENDED! Your party have defeated the Boss Fox! As a reward, each will receive the following loot[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][Fox meat]x10, [Fox Belt], [Agility Staff] and the > item [boss Fox Fur][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

*trriing!*

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]For defeating a Boss in Rare Class, you gained 1200 EXP and +5 to all stats.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center] You are now Level 5! You can upgrade your skills and unlock new skills in the skills window! You have 15 undistributed points in the Status window![/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

 

A few windows opened themselves before his eyes. He was just checking the quest log when they popped up and it was quite surprising. Was the big boss part of the quest now or not? It was hard to tell but they got a rare item from it. "I think we can probably craft it into good clothing or something." he answered Jimahe's question. For him that made the most sense, maybe he can get a nice cloak out of it. Maybe the quest giver will be able to tell them later on.

 

Either way, he equipped the staff and instantly opened his character window. It was true, he got a little boost of agility, this stat was probably determining his attack speed or his evade rate. Not bothering further bothering with it he distributed his status points. Most of them went in Magic and some went in Mana. During their fight his mana went ridiculously low, but thankfully his 'healing' spell costs health instead of mana. But for later fights he needed more mana. He was also thinking of distributing some into health later on but for now magic and mana was good enough. The skill points would be enough to unlock a new skill and it seemed useful. It was one of the beginner skills but it seemed like later skills were based of this one. It was called 'Call of Death' and it seemed to summon a skeleton fighter, which wasn't really sturdy or strong but it would be a good bait and it would avert the aggro from the Sage. Vita decided to invest in this skill.

 

After organising his things, Hyuki's voice drifted through the field. Vita didn't say anything about his want to leave the party. It was a shame since they worked so well together but everyone was allowed to decide things themselves. It was a normal occurrence in the mafia so Vita was used to it already but it was a shame nonetheless. "I enjoyed it too but you are free to decide yourself. We just have to find someone new then." he said and drifted into his own thoughts. It was already hard enough to form this group but there were probably still a lot of beginners in the town, they would be able to find someone sooner or later.

[Tetsu]

"I'm really sorry everyone. The truth is I'm a game master of this game. One Odd quest was given to the user named Havoc. It was a normal quest, but this quest is somewhat modified to be stronger. The technical team tried to fix the problem and to locate the hacker who made the quest harder. But so far, there has been no chance."

 

Game master Hyuki tried to explain calmly, regretting that he had to lie about being a newbie. He should just have told them the whole matter. They would have understood for sure, seeing how nice they actually are. Sighing deeply, Hyuki continued explaining.

"I was ordered to help you guys in your quest. That way, we may not have stopped the strange quest from happening, but at least we can provide you additional support. We tried our best to be fair to other players so I was set to start at level one. The quest is still ongoing, and you all are now affected with the virus. It seems everyone who comes in contact with the quest will get weird quests even if they quit their current party and join the others. Place don't leave and join other parties. We want the weird quest controlled within you three. We'll be providing you technical support from the background. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I'll see to it that someone else will be willing to join you four"

 

Making yet another deep sigh, the human lynx weakly smiled to the rest.

 

-

 

Havoc, hearing the reason, wasn't really pissed. Although, the long haired guy was a bit lonely to part with newfound friend. Hyuki said he will be providing back up to the party, so they would still be seeing each other. It's just a waste that they they will have to find someone capable when Hyuki was there. Since the quest they are doing are dangerous, they would have to find someone strong.

"I understand, Hyuki. It's awesome that you guys care for us new members. It would have been easier for us if you have told us from the start, right guys? We were at near death situation a number of times because of this strange situation."

Havoc cleared all the windows that popped up before him as he walked more closer to the guy. he wanted to know if he's lying again, becaus ethat would just suck if this person has been saying bullshit all this time.

 

"Where will we find the replacement?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe stared at Hyuki with parted lips and wide, disbelieving eyes. What surprised him even more was how calmly everyone else accepted it... "That's unfair." He declared with a small pout as he looked down and sighed. "Besides, it doesn't make sense. If the virus already spread, how do we keep it in us three? Or... Did the virus begin with us...? I don't get it." The green-haired male sighed out and flopped down on the ground with his arms spread out. "It's unfair for us like this. The developers should pay more attention..."

 

He sounded a bit more than upset, maybe even disappointed. Jimahe frowned at what Havoc asked - seemingly retorically - and closed his eyes. "A perty has to have four members, right? Uh... Well, until we find one, maybe Hyuki can stay with us? Just for a while. Maybe we'll find someone in the town." He mumbled softly, opening his eyes again to stare into the sky. His lips parted and he sighed out quietly once more. "Guys, um..." He hesitated and shook his head, making a "nevermind" motion with his hand.

 

The man stood up and stretched, letting out yet another deep sigh. "Anyway, we gotta get back and give the girl back." He said and smiled sympathetically to the little girl they saved. Even if it was an NPC, it still felt real enough... He thought of it as a human, she looked human enough to think that either way.