by Nikita Thorn
Letting out a relieved chuckle at how useful his hobby turned out to be, Seiki sat down on the tree. The Sheathed Blade was still in his hand, and Seiki now had time to reflect on what had happened. Since the wooden sword was ultimately a weapon, once he used it with a special move it was automatically equipped, and the game had switched out his Hikari and stored it in his inventory instead. Shaking his head in amusement, Seiki swapped them back.
He took a deep breath as he observed the scenery, which was all around a sparse wood in different shades of green from the forest floor to the canopy. There was nothing he could do right now until the wolf gave up, or until his energy recharged. Perhaps he could keep chipping away at its health and climbing back up the tree if he ran out of energy—although with defensive stance, whatever that meant, it was going to take him an extremely long time.
“Did you even get any XP for that kodama kill?” said a man’s voice from above him.
Seiki jumped in surprise. But before he could turn to look at that other person perched in the tree, a sharp coldness pressed itself against his neck.
“Don’t turn around!” warned the man, almost in panic.
Seiki carefully glanced down and took note that it was a very thin dagger.
“Because if you try to look at me, I’m going to have to kill you,” said the man. “And I really don’t want to do that.”
Not quite sure what to make of that, but deciding the man had no intention to kill him instantly, Seiki slowly let out his breath. He had no doubt the stranger would follow through with his threat, but somehow he had sounded slightly more distressed than menacing, and perhaps even open to conversation.
“Uh, no,” said Seiki, answering the man’s question. “No XP.” Now that he thought about it, he was surprised the Onihitokuchi thing had not even been a quest.
The man chuckled. “Well, that was rather creative with the kodama, I gotta say. Maybe only ronin and kitsune are fast enough to pull it off.” He paused. “Decent loot.”
So the man had been watching. Carefully, Seiki glanced down again at the dagger pushing across his shoulder. The very fine blade was almost white and seemed to be glowing with multiple faint colors.
Enchanted Prismatic Dagger +109 attack +42 defense +5% max energy.
It was not even a named blade, but it was by far the best dagger he had ever seen. Seiki stared.
“Ha!” said the man. “You think I’d be careless enough to use a named blade so you can just easily check the ‘claimed by’ bit? No way in Yellow Springs.”
“Oh,” said Seiki. “Hadn’t even crossed my mind.” He kept forgetting you could do that. “That’s an amazing dagger, by the way.”
“Yeah?” said the man, slightly amused. “What is a clan-less Level 10 doing around here?”
That was exactly what Seiki was asking himself, now that he had reached a zone where every single random beast had the ability to one-shot him. “Getting myself into unnecessary trouble, apparently.” He laughed.
Down below, the wolf was still snarling at him, and there was this man who would be able to kill him with less than a flick of his wrist.
The stranger said, “Well, you’ll have no trouble here if you help me out. In a little bit, the Rangers will come looking for me, and you’re going to tell them you haven’t seen me.”
“Uh, okay,” said Seiki, again not sure what to make of it. “Why are they after you?”
The man let out a short breath. “Because I meddle in people’s affairs to stop them killing each other, and you would think the Rangers would approve of that, but no.” He scoffed. “See what happened at the first world event? One minute, it was perfectly civilized, and the next, lowbies were dropping dead everywhere, and that’s after they changed the loot system.”
Seiki had thought the Wilderness had absolutely no rules regarding PVP, since there was no penalty, and not even a loot lockout, meaning that anyone could loot anybody or anything else other people had killed without any consequences. “So, what did you do exactly?”
“Hah!” said the man. “If I tell you that, I’m going to have to kill you.”
The forest was silent, and there was no sign of anyone around. So, Seiki tried another question. “Since the Rangers haven’t caught up, why don’t you just run right now?”
“Because I’m trying to lose them, and like the freakin’ Shinshioka Patrols, they don’t give up.” The man sighed. “And if they find me, I’m going to have to kill all of them, too, and I would really hate to do that.”
“Okay,” said Seiki. The man sounded extremely confident.
The man snorted. “I can kill people faster than they can look at me. If you don’t believe me, hand me a twig.”
“I believe you,” said Seiki. Anyone who owned a +109 attack dagger was most likely not to be trifled with.
“Really, hand me a twig,” insisted the man. “Just break off a tiny one and hand it to me, but don’t turn around.”
Seiki looked around for a small one within reach. He broke off two inches at the end and handed it over his shoulder.
The man took it. “Now watch your furry friend down there.”
The Gray Wolf was still snarling at the bottom of the tree. Suddenly, something hit it on the back and the beast collapsed without a sound.
Gray Wolf slain. 22 XP gained.
It had been faster than the eye could see. But on the corpse was now the tiny twig that he had handed the man earlier. Seiki could only look at it blankly, since he had no idea such a thing was possible.
The man chuckled, seemingly pleased. “There, gave you a bit of XP.” He laughed when he could tell that Seiki was stunned. “Seen that move before?”
“No,” said Seiki.
“You can’t even get it anymore,” said the man. “Free Slot.”
“Okay,” said Seiki, getting very curious. “If you take away the dagger, I promise I won’t turn around, and we can have a conversation like civilized people, all right?”
“Why should I believe you? People always say that and then I end up having to kill them.”
“I gave you my word, and I’ll keep it,” said Seiki.
The man hesitated.
“And I’m sure you can kill me faster than I can turn around,” Seiki added.
The man thought about it for another moment. “Fine,” he finally said and withdrew the dagger.
“No qualms about killing animals, though?” Seiki commented, eyeing the dead wolf.
The man seemed greatly bothered. “Hey, we have to do what we have to do. I can’t leave the wolf there or it will be a huge scene when the Rangers come, and there will be unnecessary deaths all around.”
Seiki had to laugh at how the man was making it sound as if he was doing everyone a huge favor. “Why don’t you want people to know who you are?”
“Because I’m not supposed to exist, and I’m not supposed to be doing all these things.”
“Meaning…?”
“Meddling. Stopping people from killing each other, like I said.”
“Maybe that’s part of the game,” Seiki pointed out. “Everything is designed to encourage PVP.”
The man scoffed. “Look over there,” he said. “To the right.”
In the distance, between the sparse trees, Seiki could make out a group of people with several horse-drawn carts slowly making their way through the woods. Some of them appeared to be giving orders to a bunch of men who must have been NPCs, carrying swords, spears and blue and white flags.
“What does that look like?” the man asked.
“Uh,” said Seiki. “No idea.”
“Oh, come on. That’s a rice run. At least tell me you know what that is, or why you would even be in the Wilderness?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of it.”
“All right,” said the man, impatiently. “It might look like a normal rice run, but I’d say someone’s stocking up for a siege.”
“How can you
tell?” Seiki did not even know what a rice run looked like, and now he realized that if you had to physically move it through open grounds like an escort quest, this would perhaps allow for enemy clans to attack and cut off your supply. The group of people had now disappeared behind a cluster of trees.
“Villages round here are too low to yield that much rice in a week,” said the man. “So someone’s preparing a siege camp.”
“What’s that?”
The man sighed. “Never mind.”
“So, you’re saying there’s a siege happening soon?”
“Don’t know. Sometimes you prepare for months. People just love bloodshed, the bigger the better. Anyway, never mind all that. My point is… ” The man paused. “Okay, tell me what’s the most important item in the game.”
Seiki had not expected the question. “Uh.”
“Don’t say the Ire of Izanagi.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
The man sighed again. “I should have known. Why are you even out here? Was it a dare? Or, no, I know, did you take money from the rich clans who hire lowbies to do what they call a hide and seek event, so they can hunt you down and kill you?”
“People do that?” asked Seiki. “What for? Fun?”
“Oh, ya,” said the man. “But funny that you would happen on a rare. Don’t let them take your sword. They might even try to buy it from you for hundreds of gold, but it’s not worth it. There’s nothing like pulling a Sheathed Blade you earned.”
“Okay, it’s not a, uh, hide and seek.” Seiki had to clarify. “I’m just trying to get to Mannaka Village.” Although, now that he thought about it, he did pretty much take money from rich people—only in a different form.
“Oh, right,” said the man.
“So what’s this… thing you mentioned?”
“Well, the Ire of Izanagi is by general consensus the best sword in the game, and a unique as well, with the famous eight-fold cut that pretty much can’t be defended against. And, yeah, like all uniques, it’s been politicked to death.” The man paused. “Anyway, what people forget is that it’s actually everyday stuff that’s more important, like healing potions or post paper, or tinderboxes so you can share fire with people in the Wilderness.”
“I guess it depends on how you look at it,” said Seiki.
The man chuckled. “You’re only Level 10. You don’t really know to what lengths people will go just to feel special. Like, oh, look I have the best bow in the game, look at how great I am. They put the uniques there for this reason, and people just fall straight for it. And they’re smart that they make it totally lootable, so you’ll soon learn how many backstabbing friends you’ve got.”
Ippei had the same theory. Since the man seemed to know quite a bit, Seiki thought about something. “Why would someone go through a very elaborate and expensive plan to invade a territory and then take nothing?”
The man seemed surprised by the question. “Maybe they didn’t get what they wanted.”
“I’m sure they did,” said Seiki. “They were meticulous. Everything was too well-executed, so they wouldn’t have failed. ”
The man laughed. “So you do know what people are capable of. Welcome to the game. If you want to know, I’d say look at who is capable of pulling it off. Follow the money. Who paid? Who benefited?”
“How much do you have to spend to hire someone to level new characters just for a specific purpose?” At least, this might narrow down the pool of people responsible.
“To what level?”
“Thirteen.”
The man snorted. “That’s it? That’s relatively easy if you know what to do.”
So that meant it could have been anyone with a decent amount of gold. “Would someone level a new character just to scout a place out? Let’s say a clan territory?” Seiki asked, trying a different route.
“Probably not,” said the man. “Easier to bribe an NPC for a map.”
“Oh,” said Seiki. This was again another thing he ignored, and he knew now this was why he had no idea where to start. “I think if I understand how everything works, I’ll be able to figure it out,” he said.
“You’ll be amazed at how many things you will manage not to know until very late in the game. Like, you can be at Level 28 and just one day go: ‘What do you mean elixirs don’t stack? Why did I waste so much money on double doses?’ Hey, look at that elm on the right.”
It took Seiki a second to grasp that the man had changed the subject.
“That one, in front of the kodama,” said the man.
Seiki blinked. The tree was a healthy-looking tree, with sturdy branches spreading out like a thick broom and covered with bright green foliage, but Seiki could see nothing special.
“Nice tree?” asked the man.
“Uh… yes?”
“Look above the tree at the sky.”
The sky was now blue with high clouds racing silently across the endless expanse of air, and the sun was already very high up as in-game noon approached.
“Pretty nice, yes?” said the man again.
“Yeah.”
“Enjoying the scenery then?”
“Uh… I guess. What’s this about?”
The man said nothing, and very soon Seiki could hear thick sounds of hooves on the damp fern ground coming closer.
Yasuki of the Chubu Rangers [Level 25] on a gray horse, came into view, followed closely by a slightly younger man, Gao of the Chubu Rangers [Level 19], on a jet black mount. Both were clad in identical green and brown and had huge long dark wood bows strapped on their backs. So, those were the Rangers everyone had been talking about?
Seiki looked at them in surprise, as he had not expected that they were actual players and not NPCs.
Yasuki, a well-built man with a slight mustache and a serious expression, reined his horse to a stop as he spotted the dead wolf, and he looked up to the tree at Seiki. “Hey, how long have you been up there?” he called out.
“A while,” said Seiki.
“We’re looking for a man in a black hood. Seen him?”
“No,” said Seiki, figuring that it was not exactly a lie.
Yasuki pulled a face as he glanced around some more. “Who killed that wolf?” he asked. “Couldn’t have been you.”
“I don’t know,” said Seiki, as he marveled at the fact that neither this answer was a lie.
“What are you doing up there anyway?”
“Uh,” said Seiki. “Enjoying the scenery.” He had to try very hard not to laugh.
Gao, the younger Ranger, gave him a disapproving look. Obviously, these people took themselves very seriously.
Yasuki said, “This is a terrible zone to be in for a Level 10. Need any help?”
Seiki understood now that they were actually playing the part of Patrols. “Yes, if you could show me the way to the Main East Road that would be great.”
Gao pointed out a direction. “That way, only a few minutes’ gallop,” he said. “Stick to the main road at your level. We have stations every twenty minutes or so.”
“First time round here?” said Yasuki, as he tossed something up into the tree. Seiki caught it and found it to be a slim bamboo tube with a fuse at the bottom.
You have received: Signal Flare – Chubu Rangers. Crafted by Torazo.
“If you get in trouble, light this with a tinderbox,” said Yasuki. “We’ll come and help.”
“You just, uh, help people?” Seiki asked.
Yasuki finally smiled. “We’re the Law of the Wild, and our job is to make the Wilderness a little safer for everyone. We don’t interfere with clan politics, but we protect lone travelers. So if a clan gives you trouble, light the signal and that’s usually enough for them to back off.”
The man seemed to have absolute confidence and conviction in what they did, and Seiki could now see why the mysterious man did not want to kill them.
“Thank you,” said Seiki, as he pock
eted the signal flare.
The riders were already starting to gallop off. “Stick to the main road!” shouted Gao again.
Seiki watched the two Rangers disappear into the forest and could not help but feel a little impressed. “So they really help people out?” he asked the man in the tree, once they were out of sight.
There was no reply.
Seiki paused. “I’m going to look up now,” he said after a bit.
Receiving no answer, Seiki took a careful glance back and found nothing but an empty tree, and above was a thick branch where the man presumably had sat. He tried listening for movement, but the forest was still. Seiki sighed, thinking he would have liked to ask a few more questions, but he was glad the man got away and that it had ended with no bloodshed.
Seiki leapt off from the tree, and found a Torn Wolf Hide on the dead wolf, which he did not fancy carrying around.
With a whistle, Fubuki came running out of the forest, appearing completely unharmed. “Sorry about earlier,” Seiki said, petting her on the neck. “But we got something really good from that fiasco.” He smiled as he showed her the wooden sword, and the horse nuzzled his hand gently.
A grim thought then crossed his mind. Now, with the Sheathed Blade, he had managed to give himself extra incentive not to die on the road, and Fuyu would no doubt be very pleased.
“I would have liked to ask the guy what he thought of Ichikeya,” he told Fubuki as he mounted. “Or the White Crane. Or Kano Castle, or the Nobles, whoever those people are.” He was starting to find it really amusing how little he knew in the end.
The forest seemed strangely empty once again as he started riding in the direction the Rangers had pointed out. Soon, he came across another dead Gray Wolf [Level 15] on the forest floor. Looking ahead, he noticed a few more dead wolves scattered around. Before he could wonder, a pigeon fluttered down beside him.
Mumei [Level 4]: (3 minutes ago) Thanks for not making me kill people. Enjoy your safe passage to the main road. You’re welcome.
Seiki chuckled as he scanned the forest around again but saw no sign of the stranger. He shook his head in amusement, deliberating what level you would have to be to get your hands on a +109 attack rainbow-colored dagger. The man had been confident he could kill the Rangers fast and, considering Yasuki’s level, this claim would put him at least at Level 29.
