by Lucas Flint
Surprised, I nonetheless Scanned one of the fish on the floor and got this information:
Ninja Piranha
LEVEL: 5
ALIGNMENT: Unaligned
CLASS: Untamed Beast
WEAK POINT: Gills
WEAKNESS: Air
A rare species of piranha said to have been bred by the ancient ninja of Japan, Ninja Piranha are known for being far more silent and stealthy than their normal cousins. Despite their silence and stealth, their teeth are just as sharp as that of the average piranha, if not more so, and once they sink their sharp fangs into a victim’s skin, they are almost impossible to get off.
I bit my lower lip and looked at Cy. He had about five or six Ninja Piranha clinging to various parts of his body, and all of his attempts to get them off his body were failing miserably.
Still, I shouted, “Cy! Use Gust! The Ninja Piranha are weak to Air!”
I wasn’t sure if Cy heard me at first, but then he waved his arms wildly in the air and a powerful gust of wind passed through the cage just then. The wind knocked all of the Ninja Piranha off his body. As soon as the last one was gone, Cy flew straight up into the air, narrowly avoiding the jumping Ninja Piranha, and crashed down onto the floor beside me, panting and breathing hard.
“Okay,” said Cy as he panted hard. “I’ve decided that I don’t like fish.”
I couldn’t blame Cy. Despite their low levels, the Ninja Piranha had done a number on him, leaving his body riddled with bite marks everywhere. No doubt the wounds and pain could be healed with a Health Drink, but that didn’t change how painful that experience must have been. I was just glad I hadn’t been the one to walk into that.
The Ninja Piranha were still snapping their jaws, but between the narrow bars and the lack of water, all they could do was flop around uselessly on the floor. I was glad about that, too, because I didn’t even want to think about how much damage these Ninja Piranha could do if they could move in the air as well as in water.
“Hello, Hero Winter,” said a familiar female voice behind me. “It is good to see you.”
I whirled around to see Aimi and Riku standing behind us. I hadn’t heard either ninja approach or appear, but again, I blamed that on the fact that they probably had ridiculously high Stealth. I wondered if becoming a Ninja gave you higher Stealth or if you needed to have high Stealth in order to become a ninja. I would ask Aimi and Riku about that later.
“Hi,” I said. I gestured at Cy. “Your trap nearly killed my Sidekick here.”
“Our apologies,” said Aimi as she bowed, although she didn’t sound particularly apologetic when she said that. “Our Trapmaster forgot to disable the lobby’s traps, even though we warned him of your arrival. I shall make sure to discipline him for that mistake.”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” I assured Aimi. “I assume your traps are in place for a reason?”
“Of course,” said Aimi as she stood upright again. “To protect our headquarters from potential enemies.”
I looked around at the empty lobby. “Well, I sure don’t see any enemies, potential or actual, nearby.”
“You may not see any enemies now, but you will see them soon enough,” said Aimi. “Come with us. My father wishes to meet the Hero who has agreed to help us. I would, however, caution you approach him with respect, for my father—the Grandmaster—does not tolerate disrespect in his presence.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
After giving Cy a Health Drink to restore his health and heal his wounds, we followed Aimi and Riku across the lobby to the elevator, which was apparently exclusively available to members of the Ninja Guild. They were only allowing us access because we had agreed to help them with their problems. I asked if there were any Teleportation Pads like in the Hall of Justice, but Aimi informed me that true ninja did not rely on Teleportation Pads to teleport. Apparently, Teleportation was one of the Powers a Ninja could learn and the only reason Aimi and Riku rode the elevator with us at all was because Ninja Teleportation could only work on one person at a time. Knowing that Ninjas could teleport made me rethink my own Class. If I could become a Ninja, then I would get the Teleportation Power, which I could see coming in very useful at some point.
Regardless, the elevator ride was short but silent and soon we reached the top. As soon as the elevator door opened, Aimi and Riku exited first and then Cy and I followed next.
The room into which we had emerged was even bigger than the lobby. It looked like the entire top floor of the Ninja Guild HQ had been converted into the Grandmaster’s living room. The tall glass windows allowed an excellent 360 view of the entire City, including the Adventure Mall, which was noticeable even from a distance. The Grandmaster’s room itself smelled much like the lobby, although there was also a hint of roses, of all things, somewhere in the mix.
Simple koi ponds stood to the right and left, with short bridges allowing us to cross the ponds without having to wade through the water. Looking down into the water as we passed, I noticed that the koi were a variety of different colors. Every color of the rainbow was represented among the koi in these ponds, making me wonder if there was something special about these koi in comparison to the ones in the lobby, which were all uniformly white and red. Scan revealed to me that these were called Rainbow Koi and that they were ‘Rare,’ but beyond that it didn’t specify if there was anything more to the Rainbow Koi than their unusual colors.
The walls were lined with ninja weapons and gear. Some of it looked quite old, even ancient, while others looked new and unused. I suspected the older weapons were from past Ninja Grandmasters, while the newer ones were from more recent Grandmasters. It made me wonder how long the Ninja Guild had been around. Judging by the appearance of some of the weapons, it must have been even older than I thought.
Set in the middle of the room was a large red throne that appeared to be carved out of ruby. Two suits of empty samurai armor stood on either side of the throne, wielding katanas that looked longer and sharper than most. A quick Scan revealed to me that they were simple decoration and nothing more, but I still had a bad feeling about them. It was the masks, which were shaped to vaguely resemble human faces. They looked so realistic that I half-expected the samurai armor to come to life and start attacking us, but we managed to reach the throne without any trouble.
The throne was big, with an extra tall back that made it even bigger. I felt like I was staring up at the throne of God himself. It was beautifully carved and appeared to have been carved by hand, although given how pretty much everything in this game was digital, it had probably just been auto-generated by the DE at some point in the past. In any case, it was still an impressive work of art, but there was only one problem:
No one sat upon it.
The throne was totally empty. In fact, based on the thick layer of dust, it looked like no one had sat on it in a while. Granted, ninja were masters at stealth, but I still expected to see someone sitting on the throne. Wondering what was up, I Scanned the throne and got this information:
Throne of the Grandmaster
RARITY: Unique
The Throne of the Grandmaster was said to have been carved by expert jewelers deep in the heart of Japan’s mountains over 1,000 years ago. Passed down from Grandmaster to Grandmaster, the Throne is the de facto symbol of authority for the Grandmaster of the Ninja Guild.
ERROR: This item has other unique Powers associated with it, but Scan needs to be Level 5 or higher to see them.
Huh. I had never been told that Scan needs to be a higher level in order to find out more about a particular item. But I guess it made sense. It would probably be too game-breaking if I could just Scan anything I want and find out about it. The problem was that since Scan was a Skill, it meant I couldn’t just invest Power Points into it and level it up that way. The only way to level up Skills was through constant practice and you never knew when a Skill would level up, which is what made Skills a lot more unpredictable and harder to level up than Powers.
/> “Um …” Cy looked around in confusion. “Where’s your dad?”
“The Grandmaster,” said Aimi in a tone that made it clear she was correcting Cy just as much as she was answering his question, “does not show himself to those who do not bow in his presence. And whatever you do, do not take your eyes off the Throne. Please follow our lead.”
Aimi and Riku both knelt down in front of the Throne of the Grandmaster. Seeing that we had no other choice, Cy and I knelt down as well. The tatami mats on the floor were soft enough that it didn’t hurt that much, but it did feel a bit awkward bowing down in front of an empty throne, even knowing that we were dealing with a highly stealthy Ninja Grandmaster who could appear and disappear at will.
The seconds ticked by and the Ninja Grandmaster still did not appear. Impatience began to rise within me. I could also sense Cy was starting to fidget. I realized this must have been even harder for him than for me because Cy was a naturally bouncy, active person, so having to kneel in one position for longer than a couple of seconds was probably pure torture to him.
“Man, when’s that Grandmaster guy going to appear?” said someone kneeling next to me I didn’t recognize. “We’ve been kneeling here forever. My knees are starting to hurt.”
“Yeah, I know,” I muttered without thinking about it. “Starting to think this might just be a—”
I stopped speaking and realized that the person speaking next to me didn’t sound like Cy, Aimi, or Riku. Against Aimi’s advice to keep my eyes on the Throne, I glanced to my left. To my surprise, I didn’t see anyone, which was weird because I was absolutely certain I had heard someone kneeling beside me say something. Was I losing my mind or did I just mistake the sounds of the waterfall for the voice of another human being?
“Rise!” a voice from the Throne boomed. “For the Grandmaster is here!”
Crap. I had forgotten to keep my eyes on the Throne. Quickly returning my attention to the Throne, I saw that it was no longer empty. Instead, it was occupied by an elderly man wearing black ninja clothing trimmed with gold. His snow-white hair combined with his pale skin gave him a rather ghostly appearance. He looked very thin and even frail, in contrast to Riku, who was well-built and thicker. Hovering above his head was the nametag that read [NINJA GRANDMASTER YAMAMOTO].
On instinct, I Scanned Yamamoto:
Ninja Grandmaster Yamamoto
LEVEL: 100
ALIGNMENT: Anti-Hero
CLASS: Ninja Grandmaster [Unique]
WEAK POINT: Chest
WEAKNESS: Light
The Ninja Grandmaster of the Ninja Guild himself. Shrouded in mystery, the Grandmaster is as much a man of legend as he is a man of flesh and blood. Although the exact capabilities of the Grandmaster are unknown even to his own followers, it is a fact that only the strongest, cleverest, and most intelligent of ninja can even be considered for the position of Grandmaster. Treat him with the respect and honor his title demands and perhaps he will do the same to you.
Level 100? That was the highest level NPC I had seen yet. It even dwarfed Dark Kosmos, which made me wonder why Yamamoto had not tried to take out Dark Kosmos himself. I made a mental note to make sure not to tick off Yamamoto because he had to be ridiculously powerful despite his weak frame.
The four of us rose as one and Aimi stepped forward. “Father, this is the man I told you about last night, the Hero who agreed to help us defeat Master Haru and the Stalking Shadows. And the one I tried—and failed—to kill.”
Aimi sounded ashamed when she said that last sentence. Based on the way Yamamoto looked at her, I could only guess that he had already chewed her out for sneaking out of their headquarters in the middle of the night to kill me without his permission. I tried not to grin when I thought about Aimi getting told off by her dad like she was some kind of teenager.
Yamamoto nodded. He looked at me with a piercing gaze, making me feel like he was reading my mind and looking into the depths of my soul. “I see that. He is the one who killed Dark Kosmos and saved Adventure City, is he not?”
“He is,” said Aimi, nodding. “I know how you feel about letting outsiders into our conflicts, but if I had not offered him that mission, neither Riku nor I would be alive today. I do not trust him any more than you do, Father, but I hope you understand why I did what I did.”
Yamamoto stroked the wispy white beard on his chin. “I do not blame you for doing what you need to do to survive. It is said that the first motto of the Ninja Guild—indeed, the very first word spoken by the very first Grandmaster to the very first Disciples—was this: ‘Survive.’ There is no honor is dying a death when you could survive to live another day, no honor in foolishly sacrificing your own life for some silly ideals. The greatest ninja have always been masters at surviving imminent death, cutting deals with their enemies, and even betraying their allies just to ensure their own survival. This is the way of the Ninja Guild.”
I couldn’t say I liked that. It sounded to me like Yamamoto was praising cowardice, betrayal, and expedience. If that was what being a ninja was all about, then frankly I didn’t want anything to do with it.
Then Yamamoto stopped stroking his beard and pointed at me. “But there is one thing I cannot forgive: This one took his eyes off my Throne. And for that, he must be executed. Now.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Before I could react, the samurai suits of armor on either side of the Throne suddenly stirred and came to life. With their joints creaking from lack of use, the samurai suits nonetheless stepped off their podiums, drawing their long katanas from their sheaths and holding them before them in a practiced manner that told me this wasn’t the first time they had been summoned to fight for their Grandmaster.
As always, I Scanned the suits:
Protectors of the Throne
LEVELS: 110 and 110
ALIGNMENT: Unaligned
CLASS: Living Armor
WEAK POINT: Joints
WEAKNESS: Fire
These suits of armor once belonged to the two strongest warriors of an ancient samurai clan that clashed with the Ninja Guild in its early days. When the warriors were slain in battle, their armor was taken from their bodies and infused with the spirits of 1,000 slain ninja, whose primary purpose now is to defend the Throne of the Grandmaster and obey all orders from the Grandmaster himself, whatever they may be. No enemy they have ever laid eyes on has ever survived their deadly blades.
“Holy crap,” said Cy, looking at the Protectors as they began marching toward us. He looked at me in fear. “What are we gonna do, boss? Those things are, like, a million levels higher than us!”
I looked around and noticed that Aimi and Riku had retreated to the Throne while we weren’t looking. Aimi stood on Yamamoto’s right while Riku stood to his left. Yamamoto’s lips were turned upward in an amused smirk, while Aimi just looked resigned to what was going on and Riku watched us eagerly like he wanted to see how we would do.
“We can’t fight them,” I said calmly as I took a step back. “We’ll need to get out of here. Let’s use the elevator and get back down to the lobby. Those things might be powerful, but—”
Suddenly, the first Protector—which had glowing blue eyes—crouched and then sprung into the air like a frog. He spun head over heels through the air as he flew toward us, forcing Cy and me to separate to avoid getting hit. The Protector slammed his sword into the ground hard enough to make a huge crack run from the spot where his sword had struck.
Even worse, the impact made the ground shake under our feet. Cy actually fell over onto his side, while I just barely managed to retain my balance as a new notification popped up in my view:
[Protector of the Throne 1] used Meteor Slash!
Debuff added: Tremor. The impact of Meteor Slash made the ground wobble under your feet and has slightly confused your senses. -5% to Agility and Evasion. Duration: 5 minutes.
What the heck? Did that mean these Protectors were so heavy that they could literally make the ground shake when the
y landed on it? Just when I thought this game couldn’t get any weirder, it had to go and throw another curve ball my way.
Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to give up fighting, debuff or no debuff. I summoned an Ice Dagger in my hand as the second Protector charged at me with his sword leveled at my waist. I Dodged his incoming attack and slashed across his side with Ice Dagger, but to my shock, my attack only scraped against his armor and didn’t even take off one point of Health.
Moving far faster than an inanimate suit of armor should be able to, the Protector whirled around and kicked me in the chest hard enough to knock me off my feet. Although that blow didn’t add any debuffs to me, it did take off over three-quarters of my Health in one blow, which was absolutely shocking. I felt lucky that I hadn’t died outright from that blow.
Before I could get up, the Protector slammed his foot down on my chest and raised his huge katana over his head. There was no emotion in his eyes, no sign that he was anything other than a glorified automaton designed to protect the Grandmaster and kill any and all threats to the Throne.
But I wasn’t done yet. I grabbed its ankle, focusing on the joint, and activated Freezing Touch. Ice immediately began spreading along the Protector’s leg, with the bulk of it forming around its ankle joint. Although this did not seem to hurt the Protector, it did make it stumble as its Weak Point was struck.
Then I summoned another Ice Dagger and slammed it as hard as I could into the frozen joint. The Ice Dagger, which was as sharp as a normal dagger despite being made out of ice, tore through the Protector’s ankle joint. I heard metal breaking as my Ice Dagger tore through it until there was a sudden snap and its foot broke off entirely.
