Chapter 2: First Blood
"Shall we"?
"with pleasure" said by Ryuu
"Oi, oi, don't leave us behind." Tamotsu said
The students descended from the hill. A girl with a soft voice said,
" keep your voice down, you big oaf" said by Rio
" shish, keep your voice down woman." Said by Tamotsu
The group hid in a large white rock, covering themselves from the men that fought each other.
There were two bandits near a cart that carried iron weapons. They were presumably looting it.
With Hiroki peeking at the other side of the rock, Sen pats him in the back and said, "Hiroki, continue with the plan."
"Guys…" Hiroki looks to the others with a confirmation gaze
The others nodded and stood watch on the rock they descended upon
As Sen and Ryuu, the two FPS buddies, they initiated a stealth attack on the raiders looting the weapons carriages.
Sen slowly walked to a bended bandit, and sliced the throat using his sword. The other bandit heard the noise and turned to his back, but was greeted by Ryuu, Ryuu hops into the Bandit's shoulders and choked his neck using a sword, slashing it .
The bodies fell to the ground as Ryuu and Sen covered themselves in the wooden cart's wheels.
"Oi, Ryuu, was that… necessary?" asked by Sen
"That was your decision, idiot"
"Although, we all agreed to do it, we killed them by our own judgement." Said by Ryuu
Sen stared at the body of the man he killed. Don't tell me, this isn't a game, he said to himself. His arms shakes due to guilt, but was knocked present went Ryuu signaled the others to come down. The group proceeded after seeing Ryuu's signal, hiding on the weapon carriage' side.
Hiroki carefully climbed the cart, hiding himself away from the stand off by the Adventurer like people and bandit men that wore hoods, inside he found swords and spears and a scythe, he mutters silently to Sen "Crap! There's too many!" he said
"Just pick something good for the plan!" muttered by Sen
"Ehh? Guess I'll go with the scythe"
Hiroki said to himself and laughed
"I hope we find cat girls in this world"
"The entrance matters amigos"
Hiroki carried the Scythe over his shoulders while letting out a smile at his friends, he then proceeded to the center of the fight of the adventures vs the raiders.
However, Sen was in deep thought
So this guys..no..
What if…
They were the ones attacked..
"Pardon me, is there a village near this area?" he asked the bandits and Adventurers
The bandits turned to him and laughed
"Well well well, what do we got here?"
"Get lost kid."
"You lost boy? Mommy's ain't here HAHA"
Hiroki was angered but retained his cool.
Two raiders slowly approached Hiroki but he smiled at the enemies and wielded his Scythe.
The first blow was struck fast making Hiroki wonder where'd he get his strength
"Boss! Help!" yelled by the bandit
The second blow was reaped from the head of the second bandit
"What the?" the captain had a big body and a two handed sword, he was big
Blood gushed over the raider's Captain feet as they we're decapitated by Hiroki.
"I was going to ask if there's a settlement around here, and that's what i get? Nevermind, you guys deserved it" he laughed
"Damn it. You'll pay for that!" yelled by the captain
"Ho? Hey woman! You need help?"
The girl nodded
The bandits ran towards Hiroki, ignorant of whats to come.
Hiroki pulled out his UNO card with a block sign and flew it towards the raiders, hitting them in the eye
"My cue.... "
Ryuu fixes his left bangs from blocking his view, and draws his bow. pulling the string was heavier than i thought
Three arrows flew and pierced the captain's chest in succession. Making him scream in agony
[New skill learned: Sharpshooter]
Sen appeared the captain's back as he was almost teleporting, dual wielding two swords and did a spin, he reverse handled his right sword, slitting the raiders chest and backs killing them in an instant.
The slitting maneuver was fast, blue lines appeared on the swords' path before their blood spilled out.
On his view, the phrases appeared
So we're really inside a game, huh
[New Skill Learned: Dance of the Phantom]
[New Skill Developed: Quantum
Leap]
[New Skill Learned: Double Slash]
[Skill description:
Dance of the Phantom: Automatically brandishes a blade
Quantum Leap: Quickly Dematerializes the player's body and materializing again on the target]
The group walked to Sen and Hiroki, Tam asked him "Sen… did you just… teleport?"
Hiroki had his hands clunched together, with an inspired voice, he asked Sen
"that was amazing! How'd you do that?"
" I don't know i just wanted to move fast and then i happened to be teleported at the location i wanted to be." said by Sen while letting out a smile
Ryuu and Sen spoke simultaneously, saying
"Magic Visualization?" said by Ryuu
"Magic Visualization, I think" said by Sen. Rio follows "so that's why i burned this guy" Tamotsu replies irritated, "Bitch" he says
HUD/Heads up display appeared on the team's eye, the overall color was in green
"Heads-up-display? but.."
"It's late?" said by Ryuu
"
Sen stared at one of the raider's corpse seeing a vial that looks been used at the hands of the captain
"Summon....Goblins" chanted by the bandit captain
The group avoided the corpse as they felt something big is coming.
"I didn't want to do this"
Sen unsheathed his sword and stabbed the corpses to double check whether they're dead or not. However..
A girl faintly said
"He.. He summoned goblins
be careful"
The small adventurer group was exhausted they weren't able to keep up with the students. They sat on the wheels of the carriage due to exhaustion
The group had their heads up checking on every direction, thus heard footsteps coming at all directions and then they saw... The goblins
"Do the half circle formation!
Kei, act as the spotter!
Tamotsu, take the front
Reaper, take the left
Marksman, stay on tank's back
Mage, cover Reaper's 6°
I'll cover the right!"
"Kei, whats their status? Kei?" asked cautiously by Sen
"I don't know! she said i have healing magic?! "
"Sensed or said? "
"V-visualize..." said by the girl
"Kay'! Visualize. Visualize. Visualize!" She looked erratically with a frantic manner, her eyes and hands waving around the body of the girl that lied her back on the wooden cart. With the male twin struck his sword on the ground, the female counterpart lied her back on her twin, with her bow drawn down. The big middle aged guy lying flat on the dirt, had no wounds yet seemed exhausted.
"oh my, it worked!" she said as her hands glowed green
On her Heads Up Display, an indicator appears:
[New skill learned: Stabilize]
[New skill learned: Heal]
[New skill progressed: Deep Sense]
With the new skills learned, Kei sensed the amount of goblins approaching.
"What the…"
"I have this.. what the.."
"No… Goblins? Ten?.."
"You mean, those scrawny creatures over there?" said by Tamotsu
"Goblins.... what i know is that they are fast but dumb" said by Sen
Figures appeared at the dark drawn area not covered by the torches, it was goblins.0
The goblins were nasty as ever, saliva was dripping on their mouths, and had smelled like salt. They had pointy ears and pointy green noses.
The goblins approached them, backing them cornering them.
Ryuu hastily adjusts his hair, he pulls an arrow and quickly draws it to the goblin, shooting them, but they were able to block it using their swords. The goblins surrounded the group with kill instinct coming from their faint red aura only Kei can sense.
"Trained little green boys, this is getting interesting" said by Tamotsu
Ryuu reached his quiver on his back, instead he found air instead of arrows. He felt the wooden base of the arrow, Count.. One… Damn it, I miss my guns..
" Last arrow" he said
"Use my sword" said by Sen to Ryuu
"Finally getting realistic with a one handed sword eh?" said by Ryuu
"Remember that time I used a karambit knife in a battle royale match, LeFacto-san?" asked by Sen
Ryuu picks up the sword and said
"I wouldn't recommend using knives right now, NobHunter-san, but that match was in battle royale VR, do what you want"
Ryuu laughed, he remembered the time Sen slaughtered his enemies using a knife on a video game.
Sen dropped his right sword and gave the left one to Ryuu, now his hands holding two pair of daggers he picked up from the dead bodies of the adventurer, he held it in reverse grip as he maintains his cold stance into the enemy, not even making his legs shake, like he never knew fear.
" Rio! better use that Trump card right know" said by Ryuu
She clenched her first, saying "you mean... power slap?"
"In novels, visualize it, form the image of your weapon!"
"Or try thinking 10 Tamotsu then try to burn them using ranged fireballs!" joked by Sen. Tamotsu walked back slowly as the goblins marched closer and closer, their marching synchronizes, he said "Why do I have to be always the target dummy?"
"Nice, nice!" said by Kei
" Ryuu, you remember how anime protagonists cast magic? "
"How would i know?" he said
Rio mumbled and prayed, "Ten Tamotsu. Ten Tamotsu", scaring Tamotsu in the process
" Nevermind that, they're just goblins!" yelled be Sen
Sen, using his self named blink skill, Quantum Leap, he teleports upfront of the goblin near him, "So that's how it works", He teleports into the back of the upfront goblin and slashed it upwards, he then teleports, continuing to the left goblin, he faces it upfront and received a slash from the goblin, however he dodges it using his teleport ability and slashes it on it's back.
[Skill upgraded: Quantum leap]
The notification appears at Sen's screen but another came in, saying "Auto battle".
"Autobattle skill, eh?" muttered by Hiroki
The others nodded to Sen, he teleports back and said
" in the count of three!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
The group followed the chant instructions as they hope it can help them eliminating the goblins, together, they chanted
"Activate Skill: Autobattle"
The group's bodies moved by themselves as they we're being controlled by another player.
Their eyes turned white and a white aura emitted on their hands and legs .
Rio started chanting an unknown spell:
"Spirits of Flame, Come forth, and release thy Eternal Chaos
Spirits of Ice, Come forth, and release thy Blizzard Chaos, use thy powers and eliminate those i seek!"
Hiroki threw his Scythe at the goblins and chanted Death Harbinger
[Death Harbinger: Smashes the ground using the Scythe/Spear]
A purple circle reassembling a magic circle appeared below Rio and more circles appeared on the goblins.
Tamotsu struck his shield and chanted: Shockwave
Stunning all goblins within a 20 meter radius
Sen and Ryuu attacked the goblins that escaped their magic circles in unison. Ryuu appeared at the front of the goblins and thrusted his sword to the nearest goblin and Sen went to the finishing blow: Phantom Dance
Kei chanted healing magic on the unconscious tank of the adventurers : Greater Heal
Rio then finished chanting her spell:
"Release Spell!: Frostburn!"
A Burning Ice appeared before the goblins, Burning to the touch, the goblins being burned by the frostburn spell as they were being swallowed by the cold flame. The flame was so cold it was indistinguishable from a hot one.
The adventurers gasped their breathe from being amazed, they have never seen such magic before. Cold winds passes through them as a result of Rio's magic
The autopilot skill disappeared.
Rio looked pale as a sign of Mana Deprivation, an exchange for the life saving spell she casted.
"Rio.. you alright?" asked by Sen
"Yeah, strange.. I feel... tired.." she said
"Must be mana deprivation" muttered by Sen
"Adventurers.. Thanks for the help! You saved us" said by the man with the big sword
"No problem, by the way, is there a city or village around here?"
"…. Which village are you from?" Asked by the man. He looked to Sen with confusion, his eyes pierced him. Sen froze and looked to his companions for help. Stuttering, he rubbed the back of his head.
"There's a village if you continue east... You aren't lost aren't you?
Sen looked with disgust to his friends especially at Hiroki who was skilled at conversations. There, Hiroki smirks with hesitation, silently laughing to Sen.
" We're from....foreign lands" said by Sen
"Huh? Then… you're… you've crossed the Crimson Valley!?" said by the woman
"We woke up in an open field. That's what we remember" Sen replied
"Do you remember your hometown then?" asked by the man
"We..."
"We aren't from this world"
After hearing that, Ryuu gazed to Sen's body. Like a formidable bodyguard, he scanned the man with the big sword's body movements, constantly checking for any erratic movements.
Sen eyes looked down, with an anxious voice, he said "We…actually.. don't know why we are here"
"A Reincarnated? Or maybe a Summoned?...?" said by the girl
"I doubt that we were reincarnated" said by Ryuu. He was kneeling, fixing his shoe laces. Sen saw Ryuu's hair, it was white, instead of black.
"Ryuu-kun… Please help meee!"
"I see! Have you met the Creators then?! Or atleast, affiliated?!"
Kei, Hiroki and Sen laughed
"We didn't die, well….yet" said by Sen "But we haven't yet met the creators, nor affiliated. Who are they anyway?"
Coleen replied apologizing, she bowed her head and said
"I see.. oh my, sorry! I didn't mean it"
"Huh?" asked by Sen
"Anyways, who are these Creators?"
"They are what the Forerunners or Ancients say 'Gods' of this world.... Well! that's what the legends says!"
"Gods..."
"Can we continue this later? I'm going to talk this out with my team"
"Oh and also, can we tag along with your party"?
"I'm Sen Satou, acting leader of this team"
She jumps with her hands forming held together, her hood came loose and her face was revealed. She was a beautiful girl whose age is around 18.
"Coleen, no surname!"
"He's my uncle, Joshua!"
"Though for us, surnames are a thing in the past, we no longer have those!"
She was like an energy, happy child. She took Sen's hands and shook it, at first Sen was slightly shocked, he was because, an introvert.
"Of course. You can tag along with us, you can consider it as our thanks from saving us from those bandits" said by the man
"Name's Joshua, my niece there is Coleen, these twins are Nero and Nera"
"Thank you for saving us, Sen-san!" said by the twins simultaneously
"I'm Sen Satou, leader of my party. The person with the bow is Ryuu Tachibana, the one with the shield is Tamotsu Suzuki , our mage is Rio Hayashi and our healer is Kei Sasaki and lastly, the one with the Scythe is Hiroki Akiyama"
"Strange names" complimented by Coleen, she held her hands in her chin as she gazes into then.
"Well... how wonder you speak Japanese even though your names are in English" said by Tamotsu
"English? Japanese?" she asked
Sen picks up a stick on the ground and draws the words "This is the spelling... is it familiar?" What he drew is the English spelling of the word English, alongside with katakana version of Japanese.
Coleen held her chin and began tipping her toes, "Ah!" she remembered something
"... i think i have seen those in ancient books.." She points into the word English and said, "This one is Ancient Language", and pointed next and said, "And this one is Terran"
"what?" said by Sen's companions simultaneously.
Sen crossed his arms and asked
"Ancient?"
"Are you the Twelve heroes mentioned by the Faceless Beings?" asked by Nera
"Twelve? Heroes? I recall that we were in a group of twelve before we passed out"
"And who are those Faceless beings?" Ryuu walked towards Sen said "Leader, we'll take care of the corpses..." He nodded to him, then, they sat in the open cart, while Sen rested his arms on the carriage as he stands. He asked "Who are these faceless beings then?"
"They came into our village last week ago, flying, and we were told to search for them today" said by Nero
"No doubt, it's them" said by Joshua
"What do they want with us?" asked by Sen
"We don't know, the beings instructed us to find you in a given time and that is today" said by Coleen. He sat down on the sitting planks of the cart, his legs crossed each other, instead of the traditional Japanese sitting position.
"We found a dead adventurer on our way here, is.. he?"
"No. That guy is probably someone else from that bandit group" said by Nero
Times like this... gets transported into another world.. there must be an issue at hand" he said to himself
After talking to himself, he asked
"Do demons exist in this world?"
"Yes" they said simultaneously
"Appearance of Demon Lord? or anything similar?"
"There was.. 50 years ago.. they were already wiped out by the Faceless beings.. and their corpses is in the Crimson Valley" said by Coleen
"Fantasy world, huh" said by Sen
"is it alright if we stay at your village? we'll try what we can to not be a burden to the villagers"
Coleen laughed and said
"My, my, actually, we have already prepared for the arrival of twelve people. We covered housing, food, weapons if necessary, and clothing"
"They're waiting at the village" said by Nera with smile
"I see, that's good then. Though, I do feel bad about it"
What the hell? They already knew? That's awfully convenient
Coleen took her staff and poked it to Sen, she asked "Do you know why you are here?"
Unless this guys are AIs, they might be players.
"Are you inhabitants of this world?" he asked Coleen
"My, my, of course we are, since I have answered your question, please answer mine"
"Do you know why you are here, Sen-san?"
Cicadas chirped, he looked with his eyes to his companions for answers
"The beings didn't tell us anything, back on our world, we were in a forest and then a light struck us, moments later we were laying in an open field. Seems like we've been kidnapped"
"I see, well until you find your true purpose in this world, would you mind to be soldiers for our village? Monsters are active lately, we'd need help of an extra hand"
"I saw him teleport" said by Nera in a dull expression
"Don't be silly Nera, teleportation requires Gate magic there's no way he could do that without us noticing it" said by Coleen
"I did teleport, sort of.. well this would be useless if i wouldn't train my swordsmanship."
Winds gushed in, playing with the fire behind them.
"I just remembered that the beings referred to them as Heroes" said by Nera
Coleen took her staff and placed the end on the driver's seat, and laying on the pole to act as support
"I see, then you guys wouldn't be a burden to us" she said as she lies down her back on the pole
They chatted to each other, Sen gathered information about this world, as expected, it was a fantasy world. However they are yet to discover why they were summoned, and what was that light. Who are the faceless beings?
---On Camp---
It was pitch black, they could only rely on hearing senses.
"They're too natural to be NPCs" he said to Ryuu
Ryuu was below the tree branch, his arms crossed and frowning, he had his back on the tree, rubbing his foot on the stick found, making it roll over and over again.
"Advanced Artificial Intelligence, Hyper Dive technology, what are we? Guinea pigs?" he said
"They probably messed up with our brains right now, who knows? they might have probably did some invasive procedures" sighed by Sen
"Are they even human?" said by Sen
Tamotsu approached from the camp's view and said "They're human, i asked them if they know the term video games and player. For a cold reader taught by Mitsou, they ain't lying"
"You got some facts wrong" said by Ryuu
Sen crossed his legs and threw a leaf on Tamotsu
"They're human, but their origin isn't the same with us. They're artificial, we're natural." Said by Sen
"I'll gather information about this world in the meantime, you guys interact with them more" he followed
"Roger that" said by Ryuu
"Still, how'd on earth did the man behind this was able to create such tech?" asked Tamotsu
"My dad used to work on a revolutionizing tech he says. Also, he mentioned that he's an alpha tester of a game similar to that tech. In the end, he never told me about it."
"Revolutionizing huh? This might be the game he was talking to you about, maybe we fell into his traps and we got kidnapped and dumped here" said by Tamotsu
"Well, that can happen, too bad he disappeared five years ago. Seriously, I'll beat the hell out of him for leaving me without notice"
"I hope i can find him here, I'm counting on fate" confidently he says
"You've started to open up much more, leader" said by Ryuu
"Oh please, you're exaggerating it"
Tamotsu asked "Heh, now then, who will take the night watch?"
"Not me" said by Ryuu
"I'll do it, I'll practice with my sword in the meantime"
Ryuu steadied his back on the tree and joined with Tamotsu, and said
"I hope you don't play with your burried hidden sword technique"
Sen touched his groin and checked, it was still there
"I still have it with me though"
"Goodnight, leader" said by Tam
Sen replied back his regards, there on that sturdy tree branch, he stood and took a breathe of fresh air.
He talked to himself and reviewed his stolen pictures of the fellow Adventurers he came across into, the smartphone he had came in handy
Coleen has a long hair, a nice body and medium-large size, also she has a pretty good face, and might look intelligent judging from her support/mage role. Height 5"6.
Joshua, Coleen's uncle, a big guy in his 30s, carrying a two handed sword. Self Proclaimed Blacksmith. Height 5"8. Two sided blonde hair and a beard. He has a well built body.
Nero is a boy while Nera is a girl
They look like they are in the same age as the students and slightly higher than Hiroki.
They wear identical clothing, similar to that of a villager.
Nero has chest armor and boots and Nera has an archer layout with her quiver on her back. Both Blue eyes. Nero has a spiky black hair with a bandana on his forehead. Nera has a normal long hair extending to the ends of her quiver.
"Dad, if you're here, you better be, if i find you, I'll throw in to you a lot of stories and reprimanding!"
---To be continued
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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