The return down the mountain pass was almost pleasant when compared to the climb up, and little-by-little, the temperature rose and snow was replaced by rain. At some point, I realised that I could take a full breath without my lungs setting on fire and it was the greatest feeling I’d ever experienced. It was like I’d been diving underwater for an eternity and finally breached the surface just before running out of oxygen.
On the horse beside me, Hayato looked to be in a foul mood, and, just as we reached the palace, it dawned on me that he was faced with the grim task of having to execute those of his men who’d betrayed him. These were men he’d trusted, men he’d probably trained since they were young. But he was obligated to do it, because who else but him had responsibility for their actions? I wondered how many lives might have been lost thanks to all that misinformation. No doubt Hayato was already doing the math in his head, while staring absentmindedly into the distance.
“With the Wolves exterminated,” Mitsui started, “we are finally at a point where we can meet the Vermilion Bird with all our forces combined, without fear of being struck in the back. The twilight of this war is before us, and beyond its darkness shines the light of dawn.”
“What’d you like me to do?” I asked, hoping to expedite my ‘invitation’ to what certainly had to be the final Stage.
“Rest. You will be summoned a few days from now and together we will ride for the battlefield.”
I nodded, somewhat disappointed, and split from the group, making my driver take me to the inn. When we arrived before its façade, he dismounted and left me with a horse I had no way to control…
Before I had the chance to lie down on the bed, a soft ping sounded in my ear. I ignored it at first, until it became too much of a nuisance. It seemed I had another skill available to choose.
My choices this time were: ‘Reactive Strike’, ‘Piercing Thrust’, and ‘Tempered Storm’. In order, they read: “Perform a powerful strike following a successful Deflect”; “Thrust the katana hard enough to pierce armour”; and “After standing still with the blade above your head long enough to achieve equilibrium, snap the katana forward in a lightning-fast strike, achieving maximum reach.” The Reactive Strike was an evolution of the Deflect ability, just like the Triple Lacerate had been an upgraded version of Lacerate. Even though this ability sounded the most useful, my attention snagged on the Piercing Thrust ability, as I was sure that I’d somehow mimicked this skill when I’d stabbed Magami with my katana. The fact that I retained the muscle memory of this ability, made me think it was the best choice for me, especially considering that I had no other thrust abilities available to me.
As I clicked on the skill, new knowledge flooded into my body, and I felt confident that I was now able to pull off the skill effortless every time I tried. It was interesting that you were able to mimic skills you didn’t possess, but it required a tremendous amount of proficiency, and it only ever worked for me when I fell into my muscle-memory-driven Dance of Death. I wondered if there were any players who’d practiced enough to be able to mimic every skill available to their weapons, and even create new powerful ones. One thing that really intrigued me was the ability to chain skills together, which I currently wasn’t able to pull off super effectively, though occasionally it seemed to work. If I could master powerful combos, my damage potential would skyrocket for sure.
Before closing down the ‘Skills & Weapon Progression’ menu, I noticed that the bar indicating the Familiarity Level for my ‘Passing Breeze’ was over halfway full. I wondered what special ability I’d acquire when the bar was maxed out. I hoped it was something powerful.
At some point I got my nose out of the various menus and found my way to my pillow, which quickly lulled me to sleep in its comforting embrace.
The following day, after soaking in the tub for an hour, I left the inn in search of FrozenFury and his team. I hadn’t received word about the final Stage from Lord Mitsui yet, but I was sure that it wasn’t going to be a problem.
Walking down the street, my blue-grey kimono felt like wearing a cloud, when compared to my Katabira jacket and Blacksteel Cuirass combo, which squeezed my body uncomfortably in certain ‘regions’.
I didn’t know if Fury and his friends knew who Raven-Black was. I mean, sure, Raven-Black seemed like a minor deity in the minds of those who never left the Forgotten Village, but surely that wasn’t the norm, or at least I hoped not. Still, I’d decided to wear my kimono, just in case. They’d have to see me in my armour eventually, but I could always just ditch the cape, even if it pained me to do so. Besides, Sunflower had seen me with the cape and hadn’t commented on it, so I was probably safe.
It was an extremely jarring experience walking through the Residential District and the Marketplace, and seeing all the damage from two days ago fully repaired, with not even a drop of blood to prove that hundreds of people had died there. The townspeople too seemed completely oblivious to what had transpired, as though I alone had been subjected to some kind of disturbed fever dream. And yet, part of me didn’t mind. After all, if the city remained in ruins, the shops would be inaccessible, and the main convenience for my being here would disappear.
For a moment, I wondered if I should distil a few more potions, but then I inspected my inventory and realised that I still had one of the two ‘Modest Healing Potion’ I’d bought in the Azure village, along with the two remaining Weak ones. I just had to be careful I didn’t lose the Modest potion like I’d lost the Potent one in the Namida-jinja Stage. I still wasn’t sure what the true difference between the Weak, Modest, and Potent variants were, but I got the feeling that it was a good idea to hold on to the stronger ones for something serious, especially considering I still wasn’t able to craft them myself.
While I scoured the Market for any signs of Fury, I sold the ‘Tatemae’ mask and ‘Weak Dizziness Poison’ for three Shu, which I used to buy another ‘Modest Healing Potion’ just to be on the safe side.[1] I also bought myself a meat skewer, which I gnawed on absentmindedly while browsing the stalls, hoping he’d be standing next to one of them. Though even after going past every stall at least twice, and looking inside the various shops, I never saw him.
Did they already find someone? I wondered fearfully. Despite myself, I’d been looking forward to joining him, so it was hard not to feel a bit disappointed.
Then I got an idea. I was sure he’d be in the area, but I just couldn’t see him or his ridiculous hair. However, just knowing he was within earshot, meant that if I shouted loud enough he would notice.
“FURY!?” I yelled at the top of my lungs, hearing my voice echo across the city. Strangely, not a single one of the NPCs milling about the market even paused for a split-second or seemed to notice my insane behaviour. It almost felt like I was in some kind of dream, where nobody noticed my existence.
Then, before I had the chance to shout a second time, I saw the unmistakeable visage of blue-and-orange-red tornado-swirled hair running around the corner into the Marketplace. He was breathing quickly as he stopped before me, and I was surprised at his ability to run in the yukata and sandals he was wearing. I looked down at my own feet and realised how ridiculous my black boots and kimono combo probably looked, and for a minute I envied his sandals, wishing I’d bought some myself.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“You… called…” he heaved, in-between breaths.
“I want to join you,” I said, assertively.
“How far… are you?”
“I just beat Magami yesterday.”
Fury stopped for a minute and regained his breath. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m serious.”
“But, but just the other day you were on the Duel Stage… It took me twelve days to beat those three stages, and you want me to believe that you did it in three??”
I sighed and pulled an item from my inventory. It was undeniable proof.
“The Wolf Pellets…” Fury replied dumbfoundedly. He fixed me with his eyes and asked, seriously, “Who are you?”
I hadn’t wanted to tell him who I really was, and I still didn’t, so I decided to tell him something in-between the truth and retaining my anonymity, hoping it would suffice. “I was part of the Frontier before I died.”
Whether intentionally or not, Fury took a step backwards. He seemed very surprised, which, ironically, surprised me. I hadn’t realised it was such a big deal, but he seemed to think it was.
“When did you Awake?” he asked, and the emphasis he put on the final word made it clear that he was referring to when I awoke on the green hills, right after being killed.
“I haven’t been counting the days,” I said, scratching my scalp, “but maybe two weeks ago, give or take.”
“Wow,” was all he said.
“Is that not normal?”
“No. It’s not. Most players, who don’t reset in the process, usually spend a month just to train and beat the Forlorn Kingdom, and about a month-and-a-half to beat this World. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it that fast… unless…”
Uh oh.
“No, you can’t be her…”
“Who can’t I be?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t say the name he was about to say.
“Well, there’s this famous duo team that’s part of the Frontier. They basically carved the path that all others follow. Nova and Raven-Black they’re called. They’re legendary players who—”
All the sound seemed to disappear, as though I was suddenly submerged underwater, and I think my heart skipped a beat. I’d heard about Nova, but I hadn’t known that we’d once been a team. He was the one who Jakob had called the Storyteller. The one responsible for spreading information about me, and the rest of the players at the Frontier. A distant voice called my name, and I remembered the vision I’d seen when holding the ‘Glass Heart’. Part of me knew that I had to find Nova, somehow. Meeting him would restore something I’d lost. I was sure of that. Maybe he could even help me remember my previous lives within this ruthless realm.
Fury stopped talking and looked at me, concern in his eyes. “Are you okay? You look a bit pale.”
I wiped the sweat on my forehead with my long sleeve and replied, “It’s nothing.”
He put his hand on my arm. “Listen, even if you were Raven-Black, I wouldn’t try to hurt you, and I certainly wouldn’t tell people about you.”
“What do you mean you wouldn’t hurt her?” I hadn’t even considered the fact that someone might want to hurt me because of who I was…
“Well, you know—”
“I don’t,” I interrupted.
“Okay… well, there are certain Guilds that target famous players. I think they want to stay in this mad realm, and they’re probably afraid that if someone beats it, they’ll all be released. It’s pretty crazy.”
“What do you mean ‘Guilds’?”
“You know… erm… it’s like a group of people. They’re usually led by a Scribe, a player who has the ability to write, and they all wear the same kind of clothes or signature items to show they’re a team. They usually work together to progress, like sharing information, teaming up for difficult boss fights, stuff like that.”
“And there are Guilds full of Player-Killers?”
Fury gave me a lopsided frown.[2] “It’s horrible, right? I don’t get why those kinds of players even exist. It’s like they don’t care if we’re stuck in this nightmare forever.”
“So, they intentionally target strong players, like Raven-Black?” It felt weird talking about myself in the third person, but at the same time I didn’t fully recognise the title as belonging to me, but rather belonging to the person I’d once been.
“Yeah, that’s what I heard. Most people assume that’s why she died recently. The rumour is that she and Nova split up, although I don’t believe that for a second. Those two are inseparable.”
I frowned. I didn’t have a choice. I felt like I had to tell him the truth, even if it’d shatter his hopes, after all, he seemed like he would be a good ally to team up with, at least until I knew what kind of threat I’d be facing from other players. I entered my inventory and equipped my armour and cape, as well as my sword.
Fury’s eyes and mouth widened as my cuirass and katana materialised on my body and the impressive cape, with its raven feathers around my neck, unfurled itself.
“Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!” he swore on repeat, as if stuck in a loop.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Before you mentioned it, I had no idea that Nova and I used to be a team.”
Fury gripped his head as though it would keep him steady on his feet.
“This explains so much…” he mumbled to himself after regaining his composure a few minutes later.
“What do you mean?”
“The Frontier, they’ve been stuck for months, without progressing past the first two Stages of Merriddia.”
“You know all that from the Storyteller?”
“Yeah, Nova always reports on the Frontier’s progress the first day of each month. Last time was—”
“Just before I awoke,” I replied, remembering what Jakob had told me.
“You really need to get back to the Frontier,” Fury said.[3]
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“Yeah, but you can’t do it like that.”
“Like what?”
“In such a hurry, I mean.”
“Why?”
“Because it’ll kill you.”
I wanted to say, “None of your fucking business!”, but I settled for, “How do you mean?”[4]
“If you die because you’re in too much of a hurry, you’ll just have to start over.”
“But you just said it’s important that I get back to the Frontier…”
“Yeah, but you have to find a middle-ground. It’s not a bad idea letting other players scout ahead and buy information from them. That’s what most people do.”
“I feel like I’m more of the scouting-ahead-and-selling-information type of person than the waiting-around type.”
Fury smiled, “Yeah, I guess that’s what you’re known for. But at least try not to be too reckless.”
“Yes, mom,” I replied sarcastically. “So, can I join your team or what?”
“I think they’d be happy to have you. They’ve been pretty adamant that I don’t just fill the last spot with the first person I see, but knowing it’s you, they’ll probably be more than satisfied.”
Again with the expectations just because of what I’ve once accomplished… I complained internally, though really, this was perhaps for the best. I could just flash my cape to open any door. I just had to make sure that I didn’t do it in public, considering that those nefarious Guilds might have eyes everywhere.[5]
Because I felt uncomfortable wearing my armour and since it’d served its purpose, I quickly stowed it away and re-equipped my kimono.
“So, when do we start?” I asked, getting straight to the point.
“I’ll have to talk to the guys first, but we should be able to start today. But it’s important we start with a few hours before dusk, otherwise all of it will have been for nothing.” I wasn’t really sure what he was talking about, but I trusted that he had all the specifics under control.
“Where should I meet you?”
“Do you know the place where the Red Fields give way to the Nijigahara forest?”
“I know it,” I replied. I know it all too well…
“Oh, I should probably invite you to the group, that would make it easier for you to find us.”
“Okay.”
Fury looked at me intently, then said, as if following a manuscript, “I would like to invite you to my group, do you agree to join?”
“I agree,” I replied, copying his strangely formal mannerism for some reason.
“Welcome to the group,” he announced, and bowed formally.
----------------------------------------
[1] I asked the vendor if they had a Potent one for sale as well, but was informed that it would need to be order-made and would cost me two Bu (i.e. eight Shu), which was quite a lot, considering that I’d just bought a Modest Potion for three Shu. Since I had no idea how big of a difference there was between Modest and Potent, I felt it was a waste of money and time to get a Potent one made.
[2] It looked like a logarithmic curve that has reached a plateau, if that helps you picture it.
[3] No shit, Sherlock…
[4] See… I can make concessions and be nice, even if it pains me to do so.
[5] I know what you might say: “But you’re in public right now, flashing your cape!” But in my defence, Fury and Sunflower had been the only two players I’d encountered in the city. Granted, I didn’t know if anyone else was hiding nearby.