‘I really thought I was going to die as soon as I joined.’ Red falls to the ground with his legs shaking.
Kasumi hands him a cup filled with water, ‘Sorry about that we have to test your basic fighting abilities.’
‘Basic?’ Kurama questions, ‘You seemed to go full out there.’
‘Of course, with your amateur skills you thought that, if I really wanted to I would’ve finished it before he even noticed’ Kasumi sits next to Paan.
‘Alright shut up! I had Kasumi get intel on the Gauntlet before meeting up here and she learned the first test and it might give us an advantage.’
Kasumi nods, ‘According to my sources it’s going a giant game of tag with the three instructors. If one of the instructors tags you, you’re unable to move, other teammates can try and come help by tagging the frozen member but it’s risky. There is a thirty-minute time limit and two people from a single party have to be able to move by the end or the whole party is eliminated.’
Red chimes in, ‘So the more people you have in a party the better the chances of winning right?’
‘It’ll be harder to communicate.’ Paan and Kurama say in unison.
Kurama looks at Paan with a grin on his face while Paan looks disgusted.
Kasumi continues, ‘You can have a maximum of 5 people in one party for the Gauntlet and it is very possible that the instructors eliminate everyone in the first round.’
‘This is different from the game, usually it’s impossible for everyone to get out in the first round and there were never these ‘instructor’ characters… things are changing.’ Kurama thinks to himself.
‘Most people would think splitting up is the best option but wouldn’t sticking together be better? It allows for easier communication and better defense against the instructors.’ Kurama covers his eyes with his hand to help clear his mind.
Kasumi waves him off, ‘With Red all we need to do is have the Sanctuary spell up on two people constantly and we basically have a free pass.’
He sweats nervously and shakes his head vigorously, ‘A…Actually I can’t cast that many spells consistently. I have to be in good weather for that, I’m a Paladin for the Sun God.’
Paladins are a class in Legacy that is proficient in using magic and fighting. Just like Clerics, Paladins have a deity they worship that gives them their power however, Clerics have a large array of gods to choose from while Paladin gods are connected to natural things like water, the sun, plants, and others. Since Paladins draw their power from natural things the state of it affects the magic being used for example if a Paladin worships the Water God and they are in a desert, they will probably only have enough magic for one spell.’
‘Damn kid, maybe he wasn’t as reliable as I thought.’ Paan scoffs, ‘The location of the round is randomized so there’s no way in knowing if the field will be helpful or not.’
Everyone sits in silence trying to figure out a plan.
After a few minutes go by and nobody says anything still.
Kurama’s face lights up as he moves his hands from his face, ‘I got a perfect idea. We split up into two groups: Kasumi and Red and then Paan and me. With less people it’ll be easier to move around quicker, but we won’t be entirely alone. With Kasumi’s speed and Red’s protection that group can reasonably survive to the end. While Paan can summon enough creatures to make our capture difficult and I have these cool new weapons that maybe can help with something.’
When Kurama mentioned his weapons, everyone rolled their eyes in unison.
‘Oh you have soul-bond weapons congratulations, it’s not like you mentioned it before.’ Kasumi glares at him
Red taps Kurama on the shoulder and whispers, ‘It might be cool for you, but soul-bonding weapons are very common. I would say one in ten people use them and most people get annoyed when it’s brought up.’
Kurama sits back down, notably less excited than before.
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‘That’s not a bad plan for an NPC, but you forgot one thing: YOU SUCK AT FIGHTING!’, Paan clenches his fist, ‘You defeated my Rabbit by luck and some quick thinking but against another person you would be beat by even a novice.’
‘We have a month; I can get Red to teach me some basics and train me it’ll be a perfect use of time that’ll make both of us stronger.’
Paan stops for a moment and raises his hand as a golden circle appears and a raccoon like creature appears and it scurries to Kurama and lays on his head.
‘A Stealer?’ Kurama looks surprised
A Stealer is an animal companion used by wizards that can target a single player and it will steal a certain aspect of the player: Life or Magic. In the game Legacy it used as a debuff, or weakness, to lower the players life to make them easier to attack or lower magic to make their use of it limited. Stealers can automatically steal it or can be given specific demands on when to steal it. Stealers are very weak and can be destroyed easily, but the person who summoned it would know when it was destroyed.
‘I can’t leave you unattended not thanks to….’ Paan trails off, ‘Stealer, if he leaves Midnight City steal his life.’
The Stealer makes a low chirping noise as if to acknowledge Paan.
‘I can tell just by looking at it how high-level it is, if it steals my life I will probably die.’
Paan heads to the door, ‘Kasumi follow me and if I can tell that you’re following me come back here and start again.’
Kasumi looks excited, ‘If you can’t find me for the whole month, you have to fight me Boss.’
‘Deal.’
Kasumi and Paan open the door and start to head out.
Kurama question, ‘Where are you going?’
Paan talks as he leaves, ‘I’m going hunting I’ll be back before the Gauntlet.’
With that they leave as if they were never there.
Red points to the Stealer, ‘It’s probably best for you to stay here.’
Kurama nods and then he bows to Red, ‘From now on you’re my master please teach me well’
Red thinks back to when his brothers first taught him the basics of fighting and he tears up, ‘I’ll do my best.’
The month countdown starts with Red and Kurama sparring vigorously as Kurama can’t land a solid hit. Red teaches the importance of always moving and having good footwork and after training Red and Kurama visit the entrance to the Cave of Fire. Kurama can’t go all the way as it is outside the boundaries but waits for Red as he prays near the entrance. Kasumi came back to the gym every day in the first week and always had the same look of disappointment but excitement. After the second week she only came home a total of 4 times for the rest of the month. During the third week, Kurama had a dream about the two dragons, Fire and Ice, he met in the soul-bonding place with them fighting each other. Fireballs form and blaze through the air as walls of ice block the attacks and chill the air. Kurama wakes up in a sweat as the area around him is either burned or covered in ice, he looks down at his brass knuckles with the symbols on each glowing. The left one glows red as the right one glows blue. Paan is running through a dense forest following the tracks of a large beast as he runs into a giant animal with a giant grin and drool dripping. Kurama spends some of his free time trying to read with Red’s help and has gotten as far as learning the alphabet and sees it is very similar to his own native language.
1 Month Later
Player Name: Kurama5454
Level 28
Health: Normal
Class: Barbarian
Basic Class Skills:
Unwavering (Active)*
Relentless (Active)*
Team Player (Passive)*
Kurama ties his long hair into a ponytail then bows to Red as both get into a fighting pose.
He puts down the Stealer on the ground, ‘Stay put Bandit.’
‘First person to three body shots wins.’ Red holds up three fingers, ‘Three, two, one go.’
The two of them explode into action with each swing fast punches at each other with both blocking the hits.
Kurama pulls up his leg and swings it at Red’s head but he blocks it. Kurama then jumps and swings his other leg with that being caught.
He then uses his hand to touch the ground and twist his body to pull Red to the ground. Kurama pulls back and lands a hit straight to the face.
‘Sun Style: Good Harvest.’ Red delivers a powerful side chop that hits Kurama right in the stomach sending him flying across the room.
‘Relentless.’ Kurama staggers up.
Red bombards him with an array of punches and kicks as Kurama is only on the defense blocking the attacks.
‘I know that skill increases his damage, so I’ll just keep going on the attack.’
Kurama stomps his foot on the ground causing it to shake catching Red off guard and goes in for an uppercut.
He lands the hit sending Red back a few feet with his vision blurring.
Red’s left arm starts emitting a faint orange aura as he goes in for a straight punch, Kurama takes both arms to block, but at the same time Red goes for a kick landing another hit in the stomach.
Kurama’s brass knuckles start glowing a blue and red color while Red’s whole body glows the orange color.
They charge at each other as the doors of the gym swing open showing Paan wearing a long black robe with the edges with purple symbols and the hood on. His fur is longer and a bit mangled as he enters, his laugh echoes and seems even more boisterous than before.
Kasumi walks in behind Paan without making a sound, she looks like how she did a month ago with her samurai kimono changed from gold and black to black and white. She has two pins on her chest one of a cherry blossom tree and the other of a golden letter ‘K’. She wears her sleep mask as a head band and her two daggers are resting in new sheaths and wears black shoes like that of a ninja.
The two stop fighting as the others enter.
Paan starts talking at an almost yelling volume, ‘Alright idiots we have a Gauntlet to win.’