Part 9

Supposedly a man died and came back just like in the game worldwide; thousands have been trapped in the game elder tales. In this world, death is not the end.

Naotsugu and Kurama fought upfront, with Shiro casting spells and Akio keeping guard.

"Astral bind," cast Shiro.

Akatsuki ran towards the bind plant monster.

" assassination" said Akatsuki.

And then bubbles appeared everywhere, showing that the plant monster was dead.

"And we're done with that," said Naotsugu.

"Indeed," said Kurama walking over to Akio in long strides and kneeling on one knee.

"Alright, let's call it quits for today," said Shiro.

"My lord may remain at your side, or would you like me to go back," said Kurama.

"Do as you wish," said Akio, not minding what Kurama does, having already given Naotsugu and Akatsuki the explanation.

"Thank you, my lord; if I'm not a bother, I will be staying," said Kurama.

"You're not bothering Kurama, but you may want to form," said Akio.

"Of course, my lord," said Kurama, and in a poof of smoke, the breathtakingly handsome man was gone. In his place was a small red fox with nine tails. I'm sorry I didn't mention what Kurama makes human form looks like; okay, well, he has a red skin-tight ninja shirt and loose black pants that are easy to move in, and of course, two fox ears placed in the long unruly red hair, then attached to his spine are nine fluffy red foxtails.

Kurama hopped up onto Akio's shoulders and seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Okay, Master Akio and lord Shiro let's go," said Akatsuki. After finding out Akio was a ninja, Akatsuki started to call him master.

They began their journey back to Akihabara.

" Lord Shiro and Master Akio ," said Akatsuki.

"Miss Akatsuki, you don't have to call me lord," said Shiro.

"You can't get her to stop; Shiro suki is only showing a sign of her respect," said Akio.

"You don't seem troubled by her calling you master," said Shiro.

"No, I'm not. I had an apprentice who would call me boss and follow me around because he was the third Hokage's Grandson, my surrogate grandfather," said Akio.

"Master Akio, let me become your Apprentice in the way of the ninja." Said Akatsuki.

"Suki, you don't want a master that is younger than you. I'm only sixteen," said Akio.

Naotsugu and Shiro were puzzles younger. Akatsuki looked more youthful than him, but they didn't mention it.

"Age doesn't matter. I would like for you to be my master," said Akatsuki.

"Fine then, but be prepared to work hard," said Akio.

"Yes, Master," said Akatsuki.

"You shall begin with scout and stealth. I will be testing if I can sense you understand," said Akio.

"I will not let you down, master; I shall begin my scouting," said Akatsuki using stealth, dark vision, and sneaking.

"Okay, just remember to report in," said Shiro.

"Of course, my lord," said Akatsuki.

"I'll illuminate the path," said Shiro" We will meet at the South Gate,"

"Of course, my lord,"

"So she has a track subclass as long as being a ninja," said Naotsugu.

"I didn't even hear any leaves move," said Shiro.

"She is good, but I can still feel we will have to work on that," said Akio.

"Wait, you can sense her," said Naotsugu.

"Ya can't you," said Akio.

"I can faint," said Shiro.

"Hardly can," said Naotsugu.

"She is good, but she can get better," said Akio.

"I just realized I don't know how long we have been here," said Naotsugu.

Flashback

"The recruiting phase is over, so we can say all of the power bases are set," said Henrietta "we will see who starts dominating,"

"Adventures in the larger are sure to throw their weight around, and that means the people of the smaller guilds are trying to stay out of sight," said the blue-haired male.

"Right people are starting to act like you're an enemy if you're not in their guild," said the brunette with red whisker marks.

"Yea, but you just can go fighting in the street now, can you," said Naotsugu.

If you tried to fight in the street or town, special guards called the royal guard would appear, and that was it. If you resisted the royal guard, you got squashed and revved in the Cathedral.

"There are still ways to harsh someone and get physical with someone without the guards showing up," said the brunette.

"On top of that, PKs have been on the rise for the past few days, too," said the blue-haired one with a white streak.

"What's a PK," Asked Naotsugu.

"Player killings and, as some people are saying, player killer," said the blue hair with a white streak.

"They attack players rather than monsters, then steal the items and money they drop after they die. It's about the worst thing you could do," said Henrietta.

"Mini maps that tell you what's around you don't work outside of town; there is no admin. People are treating this as a deathmatch enriching themselves at the expense of others," said the man with the white streak in his blue hair.

"Bunch of jerk holes," said Akatsuki.

"Well, right now, Fortune is favouring the jerk holes," said the man with the white streak in his hair.

"Uh-huh !!!" Gasped Marielle.

"What's wrong, Marielle?" Asked Shiro.

"Ohh, it's nothing. I mean, isn't this just a terrible situation? " Naotsugu," said Mariell,e then jumped and climbed onto Naotsugu's arm.

"Ahh, get off my arm," said Naotsugu, waving his arm up and down.

"I was just so taken by Akatsuki's cuteness I forgot, haha," said Henrietta.

Flashback end

The continuation of the trek through the forest.

"Earth to Shiro," said Naotsugu.

"I'm here, I'm here," said Shiro.

"You know, Shiro, I've been watching you lately, and you need to lighten up," said Naotsugu.

"Yea," said Shiro sighing.

"Akio is more relaxed than you are," said Naotsugu.

"Whatever," said Shiro.

"Hey Suki, did you find any goblins in there," said Akio.

"Yea, short stuff was there," said Naotsugu.

"Don't call me that, you buttface, pardon my rudeness, master, but yes, there was a skull on its head, weird and silly, my kind of goblin," said Akatsuki.

"Huh, what," said Naotsugu.

"So cool," said Akio.

They continued to walk in the forest until coming upon other unknown players. Naotsugu, Akio and Shiro jumped back from some sound.

"I heard something or someone," said Naotsugu, "we've got company."

A shining light of some sort was en route to hit the group. The spell was dispelled by Shiro as soon as it was cast.

"Thanks a lot, Shiro," said Naotsugu, "you've always been quick to get me out of tight places,"

"Shiro, what's the plan of action," asked Akio, going all serious all of a sudden.

"Naotsugu takes up a tandem formation, and Akio gets ready to pick off the ones that come after me," said Shiro.

"You heard him, Kurama; it's time to rumble," said Akio, grinning under his mask as Kurama jumped off of Akio's shoulders.

"Of course, master," replied Kurama, changing into his human form with a fox-like smirk across his face.

"Akio, Naotsugu, please be careful. We have got pk's out there, and I have visually on four," said Shiro.

"OOkayYea," replied Akio and Naotsugu.

"Give me a sec," said Shiro constraining, "gotten 'Mind Bolt' there you go,"

"OOkaycreeps, you gotta have a lot of guts; how about I teach you some manners," said Naotsugu.

"Yes, let's discipline these fools," said Akio creepily.

'One fighter class, two thieves and one dressed as a healer,' thought Shiro.

"So you can hand over everything you got, and we won't send your sorry asses to the cathedral," said one of the men.

'He sounds like he watches too much anime,' thought Akio.

"What do you think about Akio, Naotsugu," said Shiro.

"Let's kick their ass," said Naotsugu.

"If they want to send us to the cathedral, they'll have to beat us first," said Akio.

"It would not be wise for you to try that Pk stuff on us," said Kurama.

"I would be willing to give them some gold if it were a one-off kinda deal," said Shiro.

"hehe," chuckled the one that was spouting anime lines.

"That is if they can beat us," said Shiro maniacally.

"It's clobbering time," said Naotsugu.

"That's copyrighted, you know, right? You just took someone else's catchphrase," said Akio nonchalantly.

"Seriously, that's all you're saying," said Naotsugu.

"Yup," said Akio as he kept a close eye on the group of pks getting ready to battle them.

"Naotsugu targets the warrior on the right first," said Shiro, well-readying a spell.

"What about Kurama Shiro and me," said Akio, a bit bummed that he won't get to fight right away.

"Help Naotsugu keep the others occupied," said Shiro.

"Yea come on, Kurama," said Akio running off to help Naotsugu.

"Of course, Akio Sama," replied Kurama, right behind Akio.

Swords and Shields soon began to clash.

"I got these three under wraps; you go get the magical nerd guy," said the one in charge.

"Roger," said the only woman on the pk side. She ran straight for Shiro.

"'Astral bind'" cast Shiro.

Astral bins stop targets from reaching a considerable distance and hinder the target's movement.

"Fine, I'll take the image," said the man.

"Oh no, you don't," said Akio pulling out his katana in a defensive position.

"Thanks, Akio," said Naotsugu, holding back the warrior.

"Anytime, Naotsugu," said Akio.

"Then that means I get the cute little dark elf girl," said Kurama, setting his hand to a flame.

"All yours," said Akio.

The battle continued until Shiro interfered with some spells. (I'm not good at writing battle scenes)

"Wait for a second the mage is an enchanter," said the woman.

"What kinda spell was that it didn't hurt or nothing," said the warrior

A mage that can cast spells is an enchanter; it's one of the classes that use offensive magic, and its attack powers are weak.

"Scary, what are you trying to do with that spell anyway," said the man with dog ears.

"'Thorn bind hostage'" cast Shiro.

Thorn bind hostage. It binds the captured target in shining thorns, forever hits an ally and lands on your target. The thorns explode, dealing one thousand damage, ultimately enchanters haven pour offensive, but they can weaken enemies' attacks or increase the attack if there are allies.

"You're going to lose half those hit points once all those binds blow up; you wieners feel like giving up," said Naotsugu.

"Don't even think about it; we need more hit points, healer," shouted the male with dog ears.

Enchanters are helpless and can't do much without backing up everything, considering their role fits Shiro perfectly.

"Take this, you dumb fox," said the elf swinging her circle blades.

Kurama blocks her with foxfire.

"Haha, you guys are brilliant, forming a party with no healer, have fun crying in the cathedral," said The man with dog ears.

Once that was said, Naotsugu killed the warrior.

"Healer, we need more hit points ASAP, hey," said the dog ear guy.

Then the healer collapsed onto his knees.

"I just cast a sleeping enchantment on your healer, but honestly, he's been asleep since the beginning," said Shiro.

"Nice one Shiro," said Akio calmly.

Astral hypnosis stops the target spell that puts them to sleep.

"That's enough for four eyes," said the elf, getting ready to strike him.

"No, don't take your eyes off the tank," said the man.

Naotsugu appears in front of her and kills her.

"Screw it; the sorcerer and summoner kill these clowns and call it a night already," said the man, angry.

Then out comes Akatsuki holding onto two bodies and dragging them.

A covert killer assassin's silent operations are this class's expertise, making quick kills out of sight and out of mind. When Shiro said he had a visual on four, Akatsuki understood what he meant and neutralized everyone else hiding in the forest.

"You were not wise to underestimate my lord Shiro and master Akio," said Akatsuki, "you found the electric fuse laughable, but it was what prevented you from seeing into the dark forest around you,"

"You didn't even know your healer was asleep," said Akio, joining in on roasting them.

"Your teamwork is non-existent, and your leadership is pathetic. All you do is run your mouth. Taking out your ambush party was easy," said Akatsuki.

"Shut up; killing us won't change anything," said the man.

Akatsuki goes for the kill but stops when the man knees down, not wanting to die.

"Please don't kill me. I'm begging you, I'm sorry, not sorry," said the man, the last part only being a whisper. He got out a knife going for the kill at Shiro, "Man, I can't believe you fell for that,"

Before Akatsuki could draw her blade, Akio had already killed him, and he had become a bubble.

"Hey Akatsuki, don't beat yourself up over this, okay people will do anything for revenge and will try to win your favour by lying," said Akio, sheathing his katana.

"Yes, thanks for the lesson, Master Akio," said Akatsuki.

"Anything to help my dear apprentice improver her skills," said Akio patting her head, "and you did well killing those ambushers before they could jump us good job,"

"Thank you for the compliment Master," said Akatsuki.

"Hey, you did well. " Let's continue to leave," said Akio, "Kurama, you should go back now. You'll need your rest, but I'll summon you again another time,"

"Of course, master, I await your call, and I'll send Tuuletar your greetings," said Kurama.

"Tell her I'll summon her next time, okay," said Akio.

"Of course, see you soon, master," said Kurama, disappearing.