“Stand your ground and face me foul knave!” Kuno barked at the fleeing Defias Thug.
Kuno raised his wooden mallet and brought it down upon his foe. The Defias Thug fell to the ground, having been slain. However, as he was finishing his enemy off, Kuno had walked into sight of three more members of the Defias Brotherhood.
“For the Brotherhood!” Cried the new enemies as they bore down on Kuno.
Suddenly, a person seemingly appeared out of thin air behind one of the thugs. In the figure’s hand was a dagger, which he used to begin stabbing and slashing at his opponent’s back. The stunned thug turned around and frantically tried to fight back, but it was a losing battle. The two other Defias members turned to help their companion when one of them was suddenly hit by a fireball. Turning in the direction of the magical attack, he spotted another figure, which was clad in robes, wielding a staff, and already preparing to unleash another fireball at her target. The singed thug and his unharmed friend both charged the mage. The mage readied herself to have to fight off two attackers at once. Fortunately, for her, more help was on the way.
“Leave her alone!” A voice cried out.
The thugs turned to see a figure wielding a sword rushing toward them. The only thug who had not been hurt yet suddenly cried out in pain as the warrior’s sword cut into him. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before the three Defias Thugs joined their friend in death.
“Damn it Kuno, you shouldn’t just go charging enemies without taking a look at your surroundings!” Ranma Saotome, who was dressed in the garments of the rogue class, admonished the mallet-wielding paladin.
“Humph, I could have taken all of those villains myself! Your assistance was not required!” Kuno shot back.
“They would have torn you apart, if it wasn’t for us!”
“Why you…”
“Alright you two, that’s enough bickering for now.” Ukyo Kuonji addressed her companions as she walked forward. She was clad in the attire of a beginning mage.
“Ukyo’s right. We still have some quests to complete.” Konatsu spoke up.
The party looted to the corpses of the Defias members, splitting up the coins amongst themselves and collecting the red burlap bandanas they wore around their heads.
“Alright, we just need ten more bandanas and we will have enough to turn in to Deputy Willem.” Ranma exclaimed.
“We also need to collect Milly’s harvest from the orchard and collect the head of Garrick Padfoot, who is supposed to be an officer in the Defias Brotherhood.” Ukyo pointed out.
Supposedly, they had almost completed all of the quests in Northshire Abbey in Elwynn Forest, which was the starting area for humans. Everyone was looking forward to moving on to the next area.
Deciding to collect the harvest first, the party made their way over to the orchard. As they did so, each member reflected on their class choices.
Ranma had found the abilities of the rogue a little unusual at first. He wasn’t used to creeping up behind his enemies, preferring to attack them head on. However, he was beginning to get used to the rogue fighting style, recognizing the necessity to use stealth and cunning. While such tactics might not seem honorable, their usefulness in battle was very evident. The rogue’s fighting style was dependent on its practitioner being very quick and agile, something Ranma had excelled at in his old life. He had been somewhat disappointed that there was no class that resembled a martial artist, such as the monk class that some RPG games possessed. However, the rogue class, now that he understood the basics, was probable the closest thing to a martial artist in the game and being one was proving to be a very interesting experience.
The only real regret Ranma had about his choice of starting location was the fact that he did not start in the same area as Akane and the other Tendo sisters. However, the appearance of the Night Elves had not really appealed to him. Also, Athena had been kind enough to tell him about the cat-like nightsabers that inhabited the Night Elf homeland. With these considerations in mind, Ranma decided the best choice for him would be the human race. After all, Akane and him were still on the same team and Athena guaranteed they would be able to meet up again eventually.
For Kuno, the choice of race and class seemed obvious. Paladins were supposed to be holy crusaders, who brought divine justice and retribution down on their enemies. This fit in with Kuno’s depiction of himself in his past life. And once it was explained that only Humans and Dwarves could be paladins, Kuno’s choice of race was immediately decided on as well.
As if I, Tatewaki Kuno, would have ever willingly chosen to be some short, bearded creature!
Kuno had adapted to his new holy magic and fighting powers decently well. However, there was one issue that troubled him, which was his starting weapon. In his mind, the wooden mallet he wielded completely clashed with his image of a holy knight. He would much rather wield a sword. Still, he had heard that he could go to a weapons master and train in both one and two handed swords if he wished. He made a mental note to do so at the first available opportunity.
Ukyo had chosen to be a human mage for several reasons. The obvious reason was that Ranma had also chosen to be a human. That alone settled the matter of race for her. The matter of her class, however, took a little more thought. At first glance, none of the classes really seemed to suit her. Thus, she felt no particular restrictions or desires about what she should be. Upon considering the benefits of the classes, the mage seemed to intrigue Ukyo. A mage could summon items, such as food and water, at of thin air. That would save her at least some money. Also, Ukyo had to admit the ability to shoot balls of fire and arcane energy excited her. It would be something completely different from her past life, but according to Athena her past life would not matter in this new world. Thus, Ukyo settled on being a mage and she had to admit she was finding it rather exciting and enjoyable.
Konatsu’s decision to be a warrior had been a shock to many people who had known him. He was normally very timid and did not fit anyone’s mental image of a warrior. Also, he had been trained to be a ninja, not a fighter. However, Konatsu had one desire above all others; to protect and serve Ukyo. Since Ukyo had become a mage, what better way was there to serve her than by protecting her while she cast spells? In video games, mages always had poor armor and a low number of hit points. They needed a strong tank, which could draw the attention of enemies, while they used their spells. By being a warrior, Konatsu figured he would be able to protect Ukyo more effectively than if he had been a lightly-armored Rogue.
The party reached the edge of the orchard, which was occupied by dozens of Defias Thugs.
“Looks like we’re going to have to clear this area before we can safely collect the harvest.” Ukyo said.
“Well, at least will be able to finish collecting those bandanas.” Ranma pointed out.
“I’m ready Ukyo.” Konatsu acknowledged.
“Let us smite these foul villains and return the poor maidens bounty to her!” Kuno brandished his mallet.
“Alright, let’s start with that group of three on the right.” Ukyo said, pointing out the party’s first victims.
“Stand ready villains and prepare to face my fury!” Kuno charged the startled group of Defias Thugs.
“Here we go again.” Ranma sighed.
And so, the newest defenders of Stormwind charged into battle once more.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sun, 24 Dec 2006 03:01)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.