A young man with purple hair and orange eyes awoke in a white void wearing a black jacket and blue jeans as he found himself in the center of nothing but white in all directions. "W-where am I? I...I can't remember anything before a moment ago...my name is Yuto Saika, but that's it"
Just then a circular hole opened before him as a white crystal ascended a few feet up in a pillar of blue light. That's when a female voice could be heard throughout the void: "Welcome Yuto, I'm so glad to see you've decided to enter the Xetroverse. I'm sure you're confused about all of this, so allow me to attempt to explain this all to you as well as I can"
Yuto looked around quickly, trying to find the source of the voice, but no matter where he looked, he saw nothing but the pillar of blue light holding the crystal.
"Now then, you are inside a void that resides outside space and time. The rare few who make it to Xetroverse are brought here to learn how the world works. 1st if want you to pick up the crystal before you and raise it up with one hand"
"O-ok" A little confused, the man slowly stepped closer towards the floating jewel before reaching out and gripping the shiny crystal. (She said to raise it up right?) Doing as he was told, Yuto raised the jewel above his head as the magical item began spinning faster and faster before shattering apart in a ray of light.
Before him a ray of light shined down as the silhouette of a person could be seen within the light. Yuto watched as the light cleared, revealing a tall man with green hair wearing a white shirt and green pants.
"Humph? Where am I? Last thing I remember I was taking a nap on the thousand sunny, now here I am"
[ CHARACTER OBTAINED ]
Name : Roronoa Zorro
Rarity: S
Sex : M
Lvl : 1
Saika was realized that looking directly at the swordsmen brought up a transparent blue screen that showed info on his summon. (Hmm, his name is Roronoa Zorro...it doesn't give me any in depth information like backstory. Seems I'll just have to ask him at some point)
Making his way over to the confused swordsmen, Zorro quickly noticed him as he unsheathed one of his three blades in the man's direction. "Are you the runt who brought me here? Start talking...or I'll slice a part of you off before you even have time to react"
"I-I think I summoned you here using some kind of summoning crystal" Yuto stood frozen in fear, unable to move before the bounty hunter. "Allow me to clear everything up, hello Roronoa, my name is Raia and I'm an A.I, also referred to as artificial intelligence. You are a mere compile of data I've gathered from your world to create a near perfect copy of your physical self. The man before you is Yuto Saika, a summoner who must gather warriors all across the fictional multiverse to help him escape from here"
Zorro stood there with a confused expression on his face before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Tssk! I can't understand a word you're saying, but if all I have to do is help this bastard win some kind of game...then fine. But, if I find out either one of you two are lying to me...I'll slit your throat Yuto before dismantling that A.I piece by piece!"
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible Roronoa Zorro, I have no physical form within this reality, so I'm sorry to inform you that even if you wished to destroy me...you'd have no actual way to reach me. Now then, with your party member summoned, I shall sent you and Roronoa into the digital world"
"Sigh, will you just call me Zoro already!? Feels strange when you've spent most of your life being called Zorro then an A.I begins calling me by my Last name. Sigh!"
"Yes Zorro, I shall refer to use as Zorro from now on" The pair watched as the white void around them begin putting itself together with millions of pixels coming together, forming a fantasy-like forest around them. The once silent and empty void was now a realistic forest with the sound of birds chirping and a soft breeze brushing across their face.
"T-this is a digital world? B-but, it feels so real...as if this is the real world" Yuto stared off in the distance in amazement as he fell to his knees. "Even the grass feels real"
That's when Zorro walked over to the summoner gripping his shoulder firmly. "Enough, we need to figure out what it is we have to do to escape this world"
"Y-you're right, sorry Zorro...I got a little overwhelmed by the realization that an A.I could create something as real as this"
"Yeah, yeah, now let's go before it gets dark. I'd rather avoid wasting my time wondering the forest in the dark. We should try to find a town or city before then"
Yuto rose to his feet before giving the swordsmen a nod. "Alright, let's try and find the nearest town"
CHAPTER 1 : A world as real as reality
The pair walked along the dirt path through the forest with zorro walking close behind his summoner. After a few minutes of walking, they came to a halt as sounds of rustling echoed around them. Gripping one of his blades tightly, Zorro prepared to strike the moment he saw movement.
Without warning, multiple small green monsters lunged from the trees, letting out high-pitched screams as they went right for Yuto. "One Sword Style: Sword Draw: Lion's Song" Yuto felt a gust of wind burst past him as each creature was pierced across the chest.
Yuto turned to see Zorro standing ahead of him as he sheathed his blade. "Whoa, even at level one, your speed is amazing Zorro!" The swordsmen sighed before facing his summoner. "This is what years of training and hard work looks like. If you actually put in the effort...maybe I wouldn't have to protect your ass. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to believe that I'm just some clone of my true self"
The young boy looked at him asking: "How can you tell?"
"I only remember how to use one sword style...it's like something blocking my memory from using my full potential. Not to mention these are the clothes I wore when luffy first asked me to join his crew and yet...I can remember all of our years together, like only parts of my memory are gone"
"Hmm, so just like an RPG, you have to level up to unlock your techniques. Looks like we'll just have to find strong monsters to defeat so we can level up and regain your power back" Yuto pondered for a moment before asking: (Raia, how do I open my menu to keep track of out exp and skills?)
That's when the A.I's voice could be heard within his mind as if telepathically communicating with him. (It's quite simple Yuto, just say: "menu" and it'll bring up your typical RPG menu) Thanking her he looked forward before announcing: "Menu!"
A large blue transparent screen popped up in front of him with your typical RPG options:
• Inventory
• Stats
• Equipment
• Skill tree
• Party
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• Summons
"Let's see...Zorro is currently lvl.1 still, but his exp bar is at 99% so one more foe should level him up...alright Zorro, seems you're close to reaching level 2. So all we have to do is find another monster for you to kill"
Sigh, alright let's hurry up and get going, you've slowed us down long enough. I'm taking the lead from here on out" As Zorro proceeded down the dirt path, Yuto heard Raia inform him: (Warning, data analysis shows Roronoa Zorro has no sense of direction with a 90% chance of getting lost)
Dismissing the A.I's analysis, the young summoner followed close behind the bounty hunter as they made their way through the endless green forest...
After about 10 minutes of walking, Zorro came to a halt before sitting up against a large tree. "Ugh, feels as if we're getting nowhere! Come on kid, there's gotta be something useful you can do!" Saika thought for a moment then nodded. "Map" Zorro watched a few feet away as another blue screen opened in front of him. "Hmph, I knew it wouldn't be this easy...looks like I have a map, there's just one problem"
The swordsmen looked at him responding: "Oh yeah, and what would that be?"
"the map can only show us where we've already been. Meaning I can keep track of where we go, however, I don't see any signs of a town or village anywhere"
"Tssk! Fine, we'll just keep on the path until something pops up on that screen of yours, not like we have any other options" Rising to his feet, Zorro continued once more through the beautiful forest as sunlight crept through the trees before them. Yuto carefully walked behind his ally, carefully watching his map as they made their way along the path uncovering more of the massive map.
Without warning a young girl's scream rang out nearby. Zorro clinched his blade taking off with Yuto falling behind due to their speed and endurance difference. Making their way through the forest cutting off the path, Zorro spotted a young woman in a white dress laying on the dirt path as two knights in silver armor stood over her. One unsheathed their blade, preparing to strike when a flash of light rushed past them. "One Sword Style...lion song" The moment he sheathed his sword, the armored knights spat out blood from their helmets, collapsing to the ground motionless.
Zorro: [LEVEL 3 ACHIEVED]
[SKILL OBTAINED: One Sword Style: Thirty Six Klesha Phoenix
Yuto : [LEVEL 3 ACHIEVED]
SKILL OBTAINED: HEAL - heal ally's minor wounds
"Great! Looks like we finally reached our first level up Zorro!"
The swordsmen smirked gripping his sword firmly. "Heh, is that right?...One Sword Style...thirty six Klesha Phoenix!" Both Yuto and the young girl watched as the bounty hunter unsheathed his blade, releasing a fierce slash so powerful, it created a condensed slash of air.
"Heh, so this is how I get my techniques back. I just have to beat the crap out of people and I'll level up. Hmph, at this rate I'll have all my techniques back in no time!"
"U-uh...thank you for saving me" She called out to him. Zorro looked down in front of him to see a young brunette girl with green eyes stand up before him. "Thank you sir, I was just making my way back from picking fruit and herbs in these woods and then those two knights attacked me. At 1st I thought they might be Father's guards come to help me back home, but out of nowhere they knocked my basket out of my hands before knocking me to the ground. I fear if it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead"
"Yeah, yeah you're welcome. I'm not much of a helper, but I can't just stand idly by while an innocent person is being threatened. Though don't expect me to rescue you again. Next time be more careful when Coming all the way out her in the damn woods!"
"Well I...I should probably get back to my father in Xercadia, you're welcome to follow if you wish, though my father is the king and won't take seeing two strangers with me too well. He's always been strict like that"
Zoro crossed his arms turning to Yuto. "Well runt? What do you wanna do? Should we continue hunting monsters or head to Xercadia with...wait, what's your name again?"
"R-right, my name is princess, Sara, 2nd born of the Okoyama bloodline. Shall we proceed to the kingdom? I'm afraid it'll be dark soon and father did always warn his men how dangerous the forest around Xercadia was. I used to think he only said that to keep his men from leaving the city, but after today...I see it wasn't all lies after all"
With that, the three of them continued along the open path as a large kingdom with a 50 meter wall barricading it came into view. Yuto and Zoro stared at the colossal wall in disbelief. "What's with the exaggerated wall?" The summoned questioned.
Sara looked up at the towering wall. "Oh the wall? For some reason, my father always thought something horrible would befall our glorious kingdom, he spoke about giant ugly monsters coming to kill and devour our people. Many of us feared he was coming mad, but aside from the wall, he seems fine. I just hope these monsters he's spoken about are nothing more than mere dreams"
The trio reached the city's large steel gate as two tall knights in black armor stood guar wielding great swords. Just as one of the men were about to speak, they noticed Sara accompanying them. "Lady Okoyama! I-I'm relived you made it back In peace, your father was worried something may have happened to you and planned to send the three royal guard out to search for you. How happy he'll be to see you return!"
That’s when the third guard asked the pair why they were with the princess and their business was in Xercadia. Before either one could respond, the young princess stepped between them. “T-they saved me! I’d rather not have my father worry about me, but I won’t let you hostility question the one’s who saved me either. Stop acting like everyone who visits Xercadia are criminals! Can you please do this for me?”
The two knights looked at one another then back to the girl. “Sigh, yes my lady…I shall try to be more welcoming to travelers, but I am still ordered to asked each individual these questions for the kingdom’s safety. You’ll have to speak with the king if you wish our entry process to change. As for you both…thank you for saving the princess…welcome to Xercadia”
The bounty hunter and summoner watched as the massive steel door slowly opened, revealing a long straight stone path leading right to the king’s castle with many structures and shops aligning both sides of the street all the way to the royal fortress. “Sigh, glad we finally reached civilization before it got to dark, last thing we need is to be lost in the forest at night with so many monsters roaming about” Yuto commented with a sigh of relief.
“You’re telling me, as much as I’d love a good fight right about now, it actually feels great to actually be in a massive city away from those annoying creatures. Plus, I doubt any of them would actually give me the challenge I want. So…what should we do now captain?” Zorro wrapped his arms behind his head as he stretched.
“I must get back to my father before he overreacts and sends the royal guard out for nothing. I know father cares for me, but sometimes he can take it too far. Explore the city while I’m gone, but be cautious…as great as this city is, there’s always a dark side to every city”
With that the young princess walked off towards the castle. “I guess we can check out the town for the time being, maybe we’ll find some bounties to get some extra gold and XP”
“Sigh, there better be something worth fighting around here, maybe a giant or legion of undead. If we do find some bounties, I’d say pick the highest bounty. I’m hoping to cut something to pieces and finally unlock two sword style”
Chapter 2 An unknown threat
As the duo walked down the stone-paved streets of the large city, the sunset shined through the city with an illumination of red light. “If we’re going to collect bounties, the 1st step normally is to find a tavern or some kind of bar. They usually have a guild where we can take bounties”
After about 10 minutes of walking about the city, they finally found a small tavern called the drunken dragon inn. Making their way up to the wooden building, they saw a golden dragon above the twin doors. “Here it is! I knew a city as big as this would have some kind of tavern! Now let’s hurry, we’ve spent enough time walking around!” As Yuto pushed open the twin doors into the tavern, he was greeted by a grown man in light armor being tossed through the doorway, as they flew past the summoner. “W-what the hell!?”
Zoro stepped past the unconscious warrior as both of them saw a tall man dressed in black and gold armor with a red cape. The tall figure walked over to the bartender placing a few gold coins on the counter responding: “Sorry about that, I do hope this covers any damage I may have caused, as well as a room for the night”
The bartender was a hefty man in a suit with brown hair and handlebar mustache. He looked at the intimidating figure standing motionless before growing uneasy before handing him a small key with a room number on it. “H-here you are sir, room number is on the key…p-please enjoy your stay here in the drunken dragon inn”
“Thank you for your hospitality. Come Nabe, We must make our way to our room so we may be rested for any possible quests they may have for us”
“Yes my lord” Yuto turned to see a young dark-haired woman dressed in a brown cloak wielding a sword walk over to the knight before making their way towards the stairs. Focusing his sight on the armored figure, Yuto tried to estimate how strong he was. A blue screen appeared beside the target given very little info:
Name : Raven Black hero Momon
Sex : M
Lvl: ???
This caught the summoner off-guard. (This doesn’t make sense, I can focus and read a target’s stats, but this warrior’s level is hidden from me. Could he have some kind of item that hides his true power…or is he just so strong that my data can’t scale it?)
Just then a hand grabbed his shoulder snapping him out of his deep focus. “Hey Yuto! Quit messing around so we can get a room as well. I’d like some shut eye before we go bounty hunting tomorrow”
“R-right” Reaching into his pocket, he found a single gold coin. (Strange, did the princess slip this into my pocket without me noticing?) Making his way over to the counter, the young summoner placed the gleaming coin down before the bartender. “Is this enough for a room? We just need one room for tonight” The bartender closely examined the piece of gold before responding: “Rare to see someone spending gold in a mere tavern. However, this gold does seem genuine so I’m willing to let you both stay here for up to a weak, how’s that sound?”
Yuto filled with excitement nodding. “Thank you sir! We appreciate your service!” Meanwhile Zorro just stood beside him with his arms crossed looking away. The pair raced upstairs where they were in room 4 out of a total of 10 rooms on the 2nd floor.
Making their way up the wooden Stairs, they made their way to their room which was a decent size wooden room with a small bed with a black quilt and white pillows. Beside it was a small wooden nightstand and a desk by the window.
“Hmm, I was expecting two beds, what should we do Zorro?”
“Sugh, Don’t worry about it Yuto, this isn’t the 1st time I’ve slept on the floor before. It was kind of the usual on the thousand sunny. So don’t feel bad for me. Now shut up and get some sleep” Placing his three swords on the wooden desk by the window, the swordsmen laid on his back with his arms resting beneath his head as he instantly fell asleep.
Yuto sat on the bed looking down at the sleeping bounty hunter. (Wow Zorro, you surely fall asleep quickly, even if you’re merely a clone of him) Slowly resting his head on the soft pillow, Yuto fell asleep…
Few Hours Later…
The young boy awoke in the middle of the night to intense shaking that seemed to vibrate throughout the streets of Xercadia. “W-what’s going on!?” As his vision slowly came into focus, he realized Zorro was still out cold with the cries of terrified people running through the streets.
He jumped to his feet, kicking Zorro to quickly wake him. “Zorro get up! Something’s happening outside!” The swordsmen groaned opening one eye. “Huh? What are you talking about?” That’s when he realized the abrupt shaking around them. A sudden smirk grew across his face. “Heh, it’s about damn time something interesting happened around here!”
Leaping to his feet, Zorro grabbed his swords before racing outside into the city streets to see a tall ugly humanoid creature lifting a screaming child towards it’s grotesque mouth. Yuto made it outside, only to see the monster split in half as blood gushed from it’s split corpse.
“Hmph, if the shaking came from this monster, that could only mean there’s more of them…way more! We need to get outside the walls of the kingdom and keep these bastards from getting in!” Zorro took off running north when Yuto cried out: “You’re going the wrong way Zorro!”
The bounty hunter came to a halt, turning around to see the gate entrance in the opposite direction. “Y-yea I knew that!” Both dashed through the stone streets, passing the many panicking citizens when Zorro noticed the gate was slowly closing in front of them. “Shit! The gate’s gonna close before we get their if we don’t move! Hurry and grab my shoulder!”
Without any other option, the summoner gripped Zorro’s shoulder tightly as the swordsmen used his quickest attack. One Sword Style: lion song!” In a mere instant, the duo found themselves standing just outside the gate as it closed behind them.
“So then, who am I cutting to pieces 1st?” Zorro gripping one of his three blades firmly, waiting for one of the approaching monsters to appear from the vast forest before them. Both stood motionless in the grass when a knight from a watchtower above the wall cried out: “Look out! The monsters are coming!”
Yuto watched as another big-headed creature emerged from the forest running straight for the city gate. (W-what is that thing!?)
[Scanning…
Name : Lesser titan
Level: 5
World of origin: Attack on Titan
Raia had scanned the creature through Yuto’s eyes giving him information on the current opponent. “Lesser Titans aren’t very smart but pack a decent amount of damage if struck head on”
“Got it, thanks Raia!”
“Just stay back Yuto, with your mere healing skill, the only thing you’d be good for is a practice dummy for these so called: “titans”