The first thing she noticed was not her soft, white robes. What caught her eyes first was the extravagant Viking helm she wore upon her head. Open faced, it was a metal skull cap that covered her head and ears. A sheet or curtain of chain mail fell to her shoulders. However, the most apparent fixture to her helmet were broad wings of eagle feathers that stretched back behind her from just above her ears. Hovering in between the wing tips was a glowing disc of gold, much like that found in old paintings of Christian saints. The metal of her helm shined like polished silver, as did the metal of her plate armor peeking through her robes. Opening up her robes more, Kasumi saw how her armor fitted upon her figure. Articulate, ornamented, and tastefully decorated, the armor seemed to accentuate and flatter her figure and called attention to her bust line and cleavage in ways she has only ever seen before on professional models in catalogs. Her armored leggings and thigh high armor boots looked so amazingly feminine, it took her breath away. Her knee length scale armor skirt was not unlike that which was worn by the samurai of history. Except, no samurai ever looked as good in one as she did. The only thing Kasumi could not see, but she knew was there because she could feel the soft silkiness of the fabric, was her harem outfit that she had also chosen to wear. Kasumi did wonder if it continued the white and gold theme of her armor or not.
Kasumi gazed appreciatively at her outfit. She was really pleased to see how well the equipment she chosen looked on her. Kasumi thought that the whole thing looked like something that would be made by a culture that accepted females as both warriors and women. Her only accessories, that she had the luxury of owning, was her sword, her bow, and a necklace. It was a golden choker, a Viking style torc with eastern dragon heads on the ends. Looking at what she was wearing with a soft sigh, Kasumi felt she was every bit the battle hardened warrior she appeared to be. The ensemble was very fetching, and Kasumi noticed how much more exciting it was compared to what she owned in real life.
Satisfied she would make the proper impression in battle, she called up her stats.
Kasumi - Angelic Magic Knight
Level 1 - Angelic Magic Knight
HP 96 SP 36
ATK 36 INT 36 HIT 36
DEF 44 RES 44 SPD 44
Equipment (4/4)
Seraph Blade ATK/INT+12 Allows Magic, Holy
Seraph Bow ATK/HIT+12 Holy
Seraphim Robe DEF/RES+10 SP/INT+2 Resist Dark
Valkyrie Armor DEF+12 HP+10 Resist Death/Curse
Harem Silks DEF/RES+8 Allows Healing
Golden Collar ALL+4 Connection to Owner: Ranma
Turning to the door, ‘I can't keep Ranma-kun and little sister waiting. I hope they are not in any kind of trouble.’ Stepping through the door, she found herself in the middle of a town's square. ‘New Charia Village,’ she identified the place. It was where all new players begin their games. Right now, she knew Ranma would be working his way out of the dungeon Nabiki was caught in. However, that dungeon was not nearby. To reach it required a trip south through the forests, around some mountains, and across a bridge. However, Nabiki was deep into the dungeon, about halfway through a maze like warren of tunnels and dead ends. Kasumi expected Ranma to get into a couple battles at least on his way out. He might also make a wrong turn or two as well without her to guide him through the maze. That should give her time to run down to the dungeon and meet up with them, hopefully before they get into any real trouble. She knew there were players who would take advantage of other players that found themselves in over their heads, especially if they had something desirable.
As Kasumi started to leave town., she walked past a mask shop. The window display, full of garish and understated masks, caught her eye, prompting her to stop and look for a moment. Feeling the weight of her money bag, Kasumi started to grin wickedly. ‘Maybe... maybe I have time for a quick stop. Should be a fun joke to play on Ranma.’ She laughed to herself with a mischievous smile on her face and a glint to her eye.
Nabiki surveyed the dead, or dying, monsters as Ranma held a finger to his lips, signaling to Nabiki to stay quiet. Luan Ko and Ranma turned left and began to walk down the corridor. Nabiki stayed close to Ranma as Luan Ko went ahead to scout. Nervous and frightened herself, Nabiki could not help noticing how worried Ranma seemed to be. A loud meow broke through the stillness of the hall. Ranma stiffened, “That was Luan Ko, raising an alarm, stay back. You can't fight and I don't think the monsters will attack you either.”
Suddenly, a small group of monsters sprung upon Ranma as he pulled out his sword and beheaded the leader. Dancing to the side, Ranma avoided most blows while dealing out punches and kicks to his enemies. Spinning into a back kick, Ranma launched an orc that had overextended on his ax chop. Jumping back, Ranma used some of his MP to launch an attack that damages groups. “Almost out of MP,” Ranma muttered to himself. Ranma also noticed how much tougher these orcs were compared to what he ran into before. Sidekicking an orc, Ranma then sidestepped another orc before sweeping its legs out from under it. Rising block an overhead chop with his left arm, Ranma shoved his sword into that orc's gut. Not taking time to remove his sword from the dying orc, Ranma spun around and front kicked another orc. Pulling the sword out now, from behind him, Ranma swept it upwards, cleaving through the jawbone and snout of the stunned orc. Spinning and bringing the sword back down, Ranma beheaded another orc before he jumped over the orcs behind him. It was hard work to not get surrounded and mobbed by the orcs, but they were losing numbers fast. Meanwhile, Luan Ko was just as busy and just as deadly as Ranma.
Finally, the fight ended. Ranma was beginning to really feel his fatigue. Worse, being out in the open like this, he knew he did not have the luxury of time to let Nabiki try to heal him. If another group of monsters were to come upon them while they were distracted by the healing magic, Ranma knew it may mean there end. ‘Maybe,’ Ranma thought, ‘I can try to avoid or run from the next few encounters. Surely I should make escaping with Nabiki my first priority.’ Cleaning his blade before sheathing it, Ranma signaled Nabiki to follow as he turned to continue on out. Luan Ko once again disappeared into the shadows as she went ahead as an advance guard. Ranma swore as he looked around. ‘Where is Kasumi? How long will it take for her to get here? Did she find trouble she couldn't handle?’ Ranma worried. He kept imagining Kasumi rushing down to meet them, falling into an ambush of newbie hunters.
A scraping noise arose from around the corner. Scowling, Ranma put Nabiki behind him as he turned to look deeper into the dungeon. With grunts and growls, a band of goblins came into view. A hobgoblin lead them at the point, and two orc guards with spears offered range support. Ranma swore softly as their leader made eye contact with him. He knew that he wouldn't be avoiding this battle.
With a shout, Ranma charges into the monsters, brandishing his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Luan Ko jumping in as well as she tosses poison tipped darts at the goblins. It is not long before the noise of battle rings and echoes among the walls of the dungeon.
Vance paused, holding up a hand to signal to his guys to stop. “That sounds like fighting, lets quietly scout out the action.” While this group usually waits to enter a dungeon until they feel confident they can handle it by being a few levels above what it takes, the stories of the special treasures and slaves found within this dungeon enticed Vance to take a chance. Creeping up to a corner, they took a cautious peek.
“Whoa, that guy's a newbie. What a fool for coming here, he's just asking to become monster chow,” Vance's second in command snorted. “Nice armor for a newb, though. I say we just help the inevitable and kill him for it.”
“Do you guys see that? There's a slave-girl up against the wall. The newb somehow managed to get himself something from this deathtrap. She is one fine looking piece o' meat too.” Vance said, leering suggestively to his friends.
“Hey, she isn't wearing any slave chains. That moron newb took them off of her. That means that we can just take her for ourselves while he is busy with those goblins.” This was said by a mousy but crafty party member who goes by the name of Hroggarf in this world.
“Yeah, good point. Those stupid computer operated bots would follow anyone's commands if not kept on a leash. We can just walk up to her and ask her to follow us,” said the second in command, a smarmy, oily guy known only as Killinger. “We don't even have to kill a newb this time to get some goods. Though after we take his girl, I still think we should get his armor.”
“Bah, I bet he is stupid enough to try to hunt us down. Let him come to us. I just wanna grab the girl and go, so we can pass her around like a cheap bottle of fireberry wine. What do you think, guys?” In response he got a lot of nodding heads and snickers. With all the commotion going on, it was ever so easily for the guys to walk cautiously along the wall, right up to Nabiki. “Hey Hunny, if you come with us quietly, we'll show you what a real man is like,” Vance whispered into Nabiki's ear.
Nabiki jerked up straight, eyes wide in shock. While her submissive side wanted to obey, Nabiki did not prefer to be the property of just any old pervert who comes along. Rough hands grabbed her, and tried to pull her away from Ranma, as the rest of the group started to encircle her, preventing escape.
“Come along, we'll get you out of here, babycakes ... for a price, that is,” Vance chuckled at his own joke.
“RANMA!” Nabiki cried out as loud as she could, terrified of the men surrounding her.
Vance scowled, bots were not programmed to resist, or to prefer a master. He was not worried, the remaining goblins and the newbie fighting them would not be a match for him or his party. His men were all at level 15, this fight would be over quickly, he predicted.
Ranma had just back kicked the hobgoblin leader and was proceeding to elbow strike it in the face when he heard Nabiki's scream. 'Aargh,' Ranma thought to himself as he grunted while planting his elbow into a hobgoblin's nose, 'what is it now?' Jumping up and back, he saw some men grappling with Nabiki as she struggled to get away. Ranma sent some Möko Takabisha at the men, but an orc took advantage of the distraction and whacked Ranma from behind with a big club. Ranma was knocked into the dungeon wall, dazing him for a second and causing him to lose his grip on his sword.
Meanwhile, Luan Ko leaped at the men with a feral meow and a hiss. She kicked the man, Vance, who was holding Nabiki and was trying to carry her away. Her foot landed a solid blow to his face, and the second lightning quick follow up kick landed squarely on his side over his right kidney, while the third and fourth kick targeted his thigh, and her final kick impacted his knee. Vance collapsed from the sudden assault with Nabiki landing on top of him.
Ranma, by this time, had already just gotten up and was forced to dodge a couple goblins who tried attacking while he was down. One of the Goblins savagely thrusted his sword at Ranma, who sidestepped the attack and grabbed the goblin's arm. Ranma threw the goblin into a couple of the men around Nabiki. Another of the men was making a grab for Nabiki, so Ranma jump kicked him. However, Ranma then had to duck under a swipe from an orc's club. Spinning around, Ranma front kicked the orc in his groin and rising kicked the orc's chin. While the orc blinked in a dazed state, Ranma did a jumping spin kick to the orc's head followed by rapid punches to the kidneys. The orc took one step and stumbled to the ground unconscious. However, without Luan Ko keeping the goblins busy, two of them found an opportunity to tackle Ranma, and bodily bring him to the floor.
Luan Ko, at this time, had stabbed a man in his lungs with a poison tipped skewer and used her claws to rip another man's throat out. Luan Ko was standing protectively over Nabiki, who was curled up against a wall, shaking in fright. Nabiki was afraid, but not of just dying in some strange place far from home. She was also afraid of what those men wanted, but more importantly she was more afraid of being taken away from Ranma, losing Ranma, or even of Ranma dying. Ranma was the only person she knew she could trust and Nabiki did not like to think how well she could survive this world with him to help her. And Nabiki's biggest fear, was the fear that she would never be able to go home again. She knew from Ranma that Kasumi was coming. She also noticed how Ranma became more stressed the longer that it took Kasumi to show up. Nabiki was also afraid that her sister found herself in a situation like this fight, and not being a fighter or even street smart, she was now in trouble. Nabiki worried she would never see any of her family again, and it looked like that Ranma, the closest thing to family she had left, was too tired to fight and was being overwhelmed. Nabiki feared she would die alone far from home.
Thankfully, Ranma threw the goblins off from on top of him. Rolling over and launching himself into the air, he spent some more MP launching a couple Möko Takabisha into the goblins. Two goblins did not rise again. Picking up a sword from the ground, Ranma threw it into the head of one of the men that accosted Nabiki, killing him. The hobgoblin, wheezing through a broken nose, rushed Ranma from behind while swinging his battle axe. He never made it as several arrows suddenly sprouted from his chest, twanging as they vibrated. The hobgoblin fell over with a shocked grunt.
Luan Ko was knocked away from Nabiki, and one of the men suddenly and impatiently grabbed at Nabiki only to drop dead on top of her. Nabiki screamed as she saw the bloody arrows sticking out from his head, neck, and back, piercing the armor. Nabiki stopped screaming when Luan Ko had heaved the dead body off of her, and threw it at a nearby goblin. Nabiki noticed that Luan Ko looked less wounded and more energetic then a few moments before. Looking for Ranma, she noticed that Ranma seemed to have found his second wind. Scanning the battlefield, she noticed a newcomer had joined the fight and seemed to be helping them. Nabiki only hoped that the cost for such help would not be too high.
Nabiki was enthralled in how this newcomer fought. He wore armor that appeared Nordic, with a strange mask guarding his face. 'Probably vain about his looks and afraid to spoil his face,' Nabiki thought derisively. However, this new warrior was poetry in motion. As smooth and graceful in battle as Ranma was. In fact, they worked well together, instinctively moving as a team. With his bow, he had already thinned the numbers down of their enemies. Now, he and Ranma fought off the others as they watched each others back. Meanwhile, Luan Ko protected Nabiki and no longer had to keep an eye out on Ranma. Soon, the enemies were defeated other then a couple who managed to run away.
Ranma stalked over to the only man still conscious or alive. Two broken legs took him out of the fight. “Now, you are going to tell me what it was you were planning on doing with my friend,” Ranma growled.
“W-w-was ju-just going to take your slave. That's all.” The man stammered, feeling intimidated by the fierce look on Ranma's face.
“So, you like to steal from others? You are pathetic.” Ranma spat angrily.
“Just doing what the boss wants. He rewards well those who bring him rare or powerful items. It is nothing others don't do, anyways.”
“Well, I wouldn't dishonor myself by being a thief. And you are lucky I won't dishonor myself by killing you. Your boss better hope I don't meet him.” Ranma then stood up and walked away from the man. Ranma joined Luan Ko and the new guy in examining the dead bodies.
Nabiki looked around her. Goblins, orcs, and heroes laid dead or dying all about. Ranma, Luan Ko, and the mysterious hero were busy looting the bodies for spoils. Nabiki had noticed that the newcomer and Ranma fought well together. However, Nabiki could only shiver at the memory of the ruthlessness and viciousness in battle the newcomer showed, and Nabiki thought she could feel his eyes on her.
“Nice slave. Maybe I'll take her as payment for my help,” the mysterious stranger grunted to Ranma. Nabiki eeped at this and tried to hide behind an unconcerned Luan Ko.
“You're scaring the spit out of her, Kasumi,” Ranma admonishes the other fighter.
“KASUMI!” Nabiki shouted in shock. “That was a rotten joke,” Nabiki groused as the stranger removed her mask, revealing a giggling Kasumi.
Tossing the mask towards Nabiki, “Here you go, something to wear.” Kasumi then broke down into more laughter.
“I don't see what is so funny,” Nabiki complained.
“You need to relax more and enjoy the game, little sister. Come on Ranma, let's head to a nearby town, you look like you could use some rest and healing. Seems little sister is not doing her job as a healer.” Kasumi stood up, done looting the last of the bodies, “They don't have anything worth keeping, at least we can sell the junk in town.”
“Yeah, I can't wait to get out of here, and find a safe place to rest,” Ranma agreed. “How much time do we have to find a way to get Nabiki out of this world before people notice we're missing?”
“I turned the Time Dilation on when I logged in, so we should have about a week or two our time.” Kasumi then stopped and got a worried look to her face. “I don't think anyone will find the laptop, I hid it in my room. I also found a plug that fit, so we don't have to worry about the battery dieing on us. However, I'd like to get back before Akane decides to cook dinner.”
Ranma gave a look to Nabiki before turning to face Kasumi, “Even if we get back in time to stop Akane, you may still not have enough time to cook much, anyways. Either way, we'll be orderin' out.”
The group chattered among themselves as they headed towards the exit. Luan Ko dissolved once again into the shadows and maintained point guard in advance of the gang. As they approached the exit, Ranma's pet kunoichi nekomata appeared briefly, just long enough to give Ranma a cryptic hand signal. “Shh. Slow done guys, Luan Ko says there is a group of enemies by the way out,” Ranma whispered.
The battle by the entrance was anti-climatic and was over soon after it started. Not only were the monsters not especially difficult, but the addition of a fresh Kasumi to the group really seemed to make a difference. Nabiki could not help noticing how well her sister and Ranma fought together. Upon exiting the dungeon and reaching fresh air, Nabiki closed her eyes and turned to face the cheerful sun. Ranma stretched some kinks out as Luan Ko blinked in the bright light and cutely mewed her pleasure of the sun's warming rays. After a few moments, Nabiki opened her eyes to see Kasumi and Ranma sitting by a tree with Luan Ko curled up in the sun.
“You know Saotome, I can heal you ... for a price,” Nabiki said as she approached the others. She shuddered as she remembered the guy whispering that phrase to her. 'For a price' used to be her catch phrase. Something she knew she could use to scare people, if need be, and now it scared her. However, Nabiki was sure that she would not let this place change her. By falling to her old ways, Nabiki thought she could return to what she once was.
“No problem, Nabiki, I should be able to make that money back when I sell you off at the slave markets,” Ranma replied with a smirk.
“You wouldn't dare!” Nabiki huffed, surprised that Ranma handled that so well.
“What do you think Kasumi, trade her in for a model that can work as part of a team? Got any opinions on this, Luan Ko?” Ranma looked at them to see smiling and nodding of heads. “OK, the Ayes have it, we'll use Nabiki's trade in value to subsidize getting a better make of sex slave,” Ranma joked.
“You too, Kasumi! Fine, fine. I didn't think that would of work anyways. When did you get smarter?” Nabiki capitulated.
“We were able to boost all of Ranma's stats, including his intelligence, at the cost of lots of mana,” Kasumi explained to Nabiki.
“Wait a minute... You mean you hacked Ranma's character? How did you even know how to do that?” Nabiki was a little outraged that she did not discover such useful loophole when she stumbled into the game. “I wouldn't have thought that Ranma would ever agree to any kind of power-up he never honestly earned.”
“How else were we going to transmigrate all of my martial arts skills into the game character? Plus, I seemed to have had lots of mana to spend, maybe you didn't have enough,” Ranma responded.
Nabiki looked thoughtful for a moment, before moving to kneel by Ranma. “OK, whatever. Too late now to change anything. I'm going to try a minor healing and also I want to try fatigue removal.” Nabiki held her hands over Ranma and concentrated before chanting softly. A warm glow suffused her hands as she felt energy moving from her center to her arms and out her hands. Ranma glowed briefly, feeling better already, and Nabiki felt some experience flow into her. Not much though. She then concentrated some more and attempted to remove fatigue. The glow on her hands changed color slightly towards a neutral white, and again she felt the flow of energy from her to Ranma pass through her hands. And once more, she felt that she had earned some experience points.
Turning to Luan Ko, Nabiki repeated the procedure, but when it came time to remove Luan Ko's fatigue, she no longer felt any energy flow. In fact, she felt sort of empty inside, and quite tired herself. Slumping over and blowing out her breath, Nabiki apologized, “Sorry Ranma, I think that is all I have in me for now.”
“It's OK, don't overwork yourself. We can rest up here or at a nearby town. Town's are safer to rest in. Many monsters and less then honorable players would attack any one they caught sleeping unguarded,” Ranma told Nabiki. “At least, in an inn, you have a locked door to keep people out.”
“Some games let you bribe the innkeeper to sneak you into someone else's room, though. So we should not be too complacent,” Kasumi warned.
“I did not get very much experience for healing you. It will take forever, at this rate, to level up. How else can I get experience, anyways? Why can't I logout properly?” Now that she was safe outside of her cell, Nabiki was worrying about getting home soon.
“For a slave, such as yourself, one such way to level up is by being a good slave. In this game, you would get lots of experience for serving your master,” Kasumi lectured, “because slaves are items and can not fight to level up. At least, as far as I know, that is the only way.”
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(Posted Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:55)
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