The weather was nice out: the golden rays of the setting sun, the not too warm temperature, and the just right breeze made for a very enjoyable evening. Ranma and company had just finished their dinner, and were waiting to settle up the bill.
Ranma glanced out the window. “Hey, Kasumi. How about we go for a walk and burn off some of that dinner? It looks nice out, and there is not much else to do.”
“Sure thing, Ranma-kun. I’d like that.”
After paying for the meal, Ranma took hold of Nabiki’s leash and lead the group outdoors. “The town square is over in that direction. Shall we see if any of the locals are relaxing there? The evening is too nice to spend cooped up inside.”
Passing by the front of the General Store, closed for the night, Kasumi noticed a man with a lute sitting on the porch decking of the store front. “Excuse me, sir? Would you mind playing a song?”
“Certainly,” the bard agreed, “I just composed a nice piece detailing King Mithros’s defeat of the Thousand Goblin Army in the War of the Head Cheese. Or maybe, you would prefer a classic. Perhaps O’Finnegan’s Death of Sir Crwllyad?”
Kasumi responded without much hesitation, “Which one has a good beat to dance to?”
“Bah, figures. Look, I’m a bard. The music is just an accompaniment to my song, a lyrical rhyme telling the great stories of our history. If you want to dance, find yourself a drunk fiddler or some illiterate dance master. Such concerns are beneath me.” The bard’s face screwed up in distaste for a moment, before he seemed to come to a decision. “If you folks would just sit down on yonder stoop, I can enlighten you with the heroic epic of Lord Johnny the Weasel and his one thousand and one nights of adventure.”
An old man, who was passing nearby, walked up to Kasumi. “Excuse me, but if you are looking to dance some, I know how to play a fiddle. It has been ages, but I think I can remember a couple dance songs.” With that, the old man pulled a small stringed instrument from a pocket in his cloak. It looked like a violin’s fretboard attached to a pipe, or an extremely skinny fiddle. “I was just on my way back from trying to sell this pocket fiddle. Lucky for you, as I don’t normally have one on me.” Tapping a rhythm with his right foot, the old man launched into a fast, folksy fiddle rift. The traveling bard just sneered at the old man.
Kasumi turned to face Ranma, “May I have this dance, kind sir?”
“Yes, you may, fine lady.” Ranma, who didn’t really know what kind of dances the locals had, just started moving to the music with Kasumi. They foot stomped, shoulder bopped, and hip swayed as the fiddler kept on sawing on his tiny yet loud instrument. Luan Ko grabbed Nabiki and pulled her into the dancing as well. It was not long before they got some attention; a shopkeeper, closing up for the night, quickly grabbed his cittern and joined the impromptu jam session. Soon after, the girl from the armor and clothing shop was walking by. It did not take her long to decide to dance with Ranma and Kasumi. Nabiki noticed that she wore as little as always, with her low cut, mid-riff baring blouse and low riding mini skirt. Hands in the air, hips swaying, the saucy blonde ground her body against Ranma’s back. For reasons Nabiki couldn’t name, she felt put out at how close the girl was getting to her Ranma. Soon, more villagers joined in on the dancing, as a tin whistle player and a couple guys with spoons joined in on the music making. The bard just walked away with a disgusted shake of his head.
“Wow, Ranma-kun. Looks like we started a party.”
“Yes, I think we did, Kasumi. Having fun, Nabiki?”
Nabiki, who had moved closer to Ranma with Luan Ko, looked over and replied, “Not my kind of music, but it does have a catchy beat. All that is missing is some guy singing nonsensical lyrics while calling out square dance moves.”
The redheaded waitress from the inn, who was also dancing close to Ranma, overheard Nabiki talking. “Well, Uncle Tiberius will probably be along shortly. He never passes up the chance to party, and he loves singing.”
“Is that him heading up to the other musicians?” Kasumi asked, noticing a tall, middle-aged man cutting through the crowd of dancers.
“Yes, that’s uncle alright,” The redhead replied.
Cupping his hand around his mouth, Tiberius sang out:
Chase the hens and feed the goats,
Bow to the partner you love most.
Raise them swords, raise them high,
Kiss the goblins before they die.
Swing your girls, swing ‘em to and fro.
Love ‘em and leave ‘em before you go.
Spin that bonnie lass and promenade,
Show her a good time ‘fore she gets away.
Open the door and shove her out.
Corn in the teapot, pour’d out the spout.
Don’t lose your lady to another man.
Give her what she wants in a one night stand.
Ranma stretched his arms out above his head and yawned as he entered their shared inn room. “Oh man, am I tired. That was fun though.”
“Yes, it was. Too bad the well was dry. There was a lot of thirsty people. I think we would of all danced longer if we didn’t have to run off to buy some ale to wet our throats.” Kasumi frowned cutely.
“Well, without any local water, only the imported ale and mead are left to drink.” Ranma then shrugged. “Getting kind of tired of all the alcoholic beverages though. Some milk would make a nice change of pace. Maybe we can find a dairy farm as we walk about tomorrow?”
“Speaking of drinks and water, when can we bathe? After all of that dancing in the warm air and dusty square, I feel all itchy.” Nabiki tiredly stumbled into the room. “I’d even be willing to walk to a mountain creek if it meant rinsing off.”
Kasumi gave a sad smile to her little sister, “I know what you mean, but there are more random monster encounters at night if you leave a town. It’s just not safe to go out and stumble up a mountain in the dark, just to skinny dip.”
“Wait now, if we bring a couple torches, maybe we could head out to a small stream. Just need to make sure we don’t spoil any drinking supply. I am used to going without luxuries, thanks to pops, but you girls don’t have to if we can avoid it. I think the three of us fighters can deal with random bogies.” Ranma then thought for a moment. “Hey, Luan Ko, think you can sniff us out some water?”
It was night, and after an evening of dancing, and a night of getting ambushed by goblins, slime blobs, thestrals, and a manticore, the foursome adventurers finally found a small body of water. A trickle of snow melt fed into a small depression in a rock slab, where it pooled up before running off in a small flow lost among the undergrowth.
Nabiki sighed at the sight. “To call this puddle a pond would be generous. And that is not a cascade, it’s a drip. And that little trickle is not big enough to be even considered a brook or a creek.”
Ranma placed an arm around Nabiki’s shoulders. “Cheer up Nabiki, you get to rinse off. This is the most water we will probably be able to find around here. Use some sand to scrub with, since we have no soap. I’ll go wait aways a bit, give you three girls some privacy.” Ranma then turned and walked away along a rock outcropping. It was Kasumi’s turn to sigh as Ranma left, causing Nabiki to look at her sister strangely. Neither Nabiki nor Kasumi missed Luan Ko’s cute little pout.
“You hoped Ranma-kun would stay, too, Luan Ko?” Kasumi said to the smaller cat-girl as she put an arm around her.
“Nyao,” Luan Ko meowed while nodding her head up and down. Clasping her hands behind her back, Luan Ko turned her cute kitten eyes expression towards Kasumi.
“Don’t look at me like that, little one. I didn’t send him away.” Kasumi then turned towards her sister, Nabiki. “Shall we get out of our clothes and try to rinse off the sweat and the dust?”
“Kasumi? You didn’t really want Ranma to bathe with us, did you?”
Kasumi blushed and giggled before responding, “I thought it might be fun; I never skinny dipped before and I think it is usually done in mix company. Also, it is kind of dangerous for Ranma to be by himself at night, though less so for him then for us. And don’t act like you’d turn down the chance to have a bath with Ranma-kun. I saw how you perked up when Ranma casually mentioned how good you look as an elf.”
Nabiki only mulled the final point for a moment, “I am pretty sure that bathing with some guy has little to do with how cute he finds me.” Then Nabiki herself blushed. “However, and I totally blame the game for this, I can’t stop thinking of him, sometimes.” Nabiki, having less to take off had finished first, and so entered the small pool of water. ‘Brrrr!’ She thought as her feet entered the water.
“Uh huh, and do you blame the game for how jealous you almost got whenever a cute girl tried to dance with Ranma earlier tonight? You seem to be getting sort of attached.” Kasumi pointed out to Nabiki as she finished stripping and kneeled in the small collection of water. “Ooh, cold!” Kasumi exclaimed under her breath as the water touched her skin.
“Hey now, we both know how naive he can be. I’m just looking out for him. As much as it pains me to admit, I can’t survive here without him and so, I have to at least make sure no one takes advantage of him.” Nabiki huffed defensively. Luan Ko finally joined them in the water, meowing pitifully at the coldness of the water.
“I think we’re going to get sick from all this chilled water,” Nabiki commented.
“Don’t change the subject, sister dear,” Kasumi giggled as she wagged an eyebrow suggestively. “I think we were discussing how you want to ravage your master like a good little sex slave.” Kasumi then broke down into cute little guffaws at the expression on Nabiki’s face.
Luan Ko took the opportunity to crouch behind Nabiki and started to rub her back vigorously with water, rinsing off the dust. Soon, Luan Ko dragged her tongue across Nabiki’s skin, cleaning her back as a mother cat would clean its kittens.
“Hey!” Nabiki protested. “Not you too, come on, I don’t swing that way... *moan*... Hey, no fair using my penalties against me.”
Kasumi giggled some more at Nabiki’s outraged expression, and laughed harder at her indignant expression when the moan escaped her lips. “Don’t the two of you make a cute couple,” Kasumi teased Nabiki, “Maybe it’s not the guy half of Ranma that you want, huh lil sis?”
“Stop that, both of you! What is this, pick on the helpless slave night?” Nabiki crossed her arms over her chest, got up, left the pool, and turned her back to her sister and Luan Ko before sitting down again.
“Aww, sorry lil sis,” Kasumi apologized not too sincerely. “Come on, join us in the water, again.”
Nabiki sighed in defeat as she stood up and turned around to look at her sister. Just then, some moonlight broke through the clouds and fell on Nabiki. Kasumi’s breath caught in her throat at the lovely artistry of the light and shadows that played upon Nabiki’s casual pose.
“Nabiki, don’t move!” Kasumi gasped at her sister.
“What is it? A monster?” Nabiki asked anxiously.
Kasumi seemed to ignore her sister as she tipped her head sideways. “Turn your right knee in just a little, good. Look up to the moon, perfect.”
“Huh? What’s going on?” Nabiki was confused by her older sisters strange behavior.
“Just don’t move, no matter what. I’m going to go get Ranma,” Kasumi said in soothing tones to Nabiki. Suddenly, Kasumi shouted out, “RANMA! Help!”
Suddenly, the underbrush swayed in an unnatural breeze as Ranma dashed into the clearing with his sword drawn. He quickly scanned the area, “Kasumi, what’s the matter? Did you see something?”
Kasumi just smiled serenely and replied in an relaxed manner, “Come stand over here and look at Nabiki, quick before the clouds cut off the moonlight.”
Ranma complied to the request, and Nabiki blushed a little at having Ranma see her naked.
“Er, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. What am I suppose to notice?” Ranma asked Kasumi.
“Just how lovely the light and that pose looks. I wish I had a camera, it’s so artsy and tasteful. *Sigh* The light, Nabiki’s wet skin, her wet hair, and her elven features. I wish I knew how to draw.”
“Ah... oh! I thought you were being attacked the way you screamed. I was worried for you,” Ranma admonished Kasumi as he turned his head to look at her. “But yeah, Nabiki posed nice in the moonlight, but I always thought she was a natural model. She always had her cute moments.”
Nabiki blushed at the light praise from Ranma.
Kasumi smirked mischievously. “As long as you are here, Ranma-kun, would you like to join us?”
Luan Ko meowed a happy agreement with Kasumi.
Ranma chuckled nervously, “Heh heh heh, no thanks, I’ll just wait for you girls to finish up first.” Ranma then blushed and turned away when Luan Ko rubbed by his legs, purring and crawling cat like. Frustrated, the cat-girl splashed Ranma with some water.
A strange look crossed Nabiki’s face for a moment, before she found her toes interesting. Blushing from head to toe, she shyly told Ranma, “Ran... M— Master, if — if you like, I could wash your back for you.”
“Naw, it’s OK Nabiki. Thanks for asking. Don’t you girls take to long. Not only do we have to get up tomorrow, but I don’t want anyone catching a chill.” Ranma then strode away, not looking at anyone and still blushing.
“What?” Nabiki asked defensively as she sat back down in the water. “I was just trying to do my job. You keep saying how I have to be the role I am given.” Nabiki couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes and kept her gaze lowered as she continued to blush. Kasumi said nothing, though a knowing smile did cross her lips. Luan Ko just pouted again, watching where Ranma disappeared into the undergrowth.
Once Ranma had a chance to rinse himself off, while the girls waited nearby, they all began to head back to the village.
‘It is nice to be able to take a bath in cold water and not turn into a girl,’ Ranma thought to himself.
“Thank you, Ranma-kun,” Kasumi said to Ranma while giving him a peck to his cheek.
“Yes, Saotome, thanks.” Nabiki warmly stated.
“Come on, let’s go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we fight the end boss of the dungeon. We’ll need our rest for that,” Ranma advised. “Luan Ko is running blocker, she’s going to divert any monsters away from out path. This way, we can get back without much hassle or getting all sweaty again.”
True to his words, the trio made it back to the inn without encountering any dangerous monsters. Luan Ko arrived at their room not long afterwards. Kasumi and Nabiki stripped while Luan Ko curled up by the fireplace. Ranma placed a chair against the door and sat in it to fall asleep. Anyone trying to force their way in would awaken him.
Nabiki blushed as she looked over at Ranma. “The bed would be more comfortable, are you sure you want to sleep in that chair?”
“Oh ... I’m fine. The bed is a bit too small for all three of us, anyways. You and Kasumi get some sleep; tomorrow will be a big day.”
Nabiki frowned for a moment. “Would you like a neck rub? I could sit up with you, keep you company.”
Ranma puzzled for a moment, wondering why Nabiki was acting odd. “No thank you, Nabiki. I appreciate you taking your job seriously, but really, I’m fine. Go get some sleep, you’ll need it.” The last part was said a bit tenderly as Ranma smiled. Nabiki smiled a little in return as she gave a slow nod before turning in.
With that, Nabiki and Kasumi settled into bed. With a sigh, Nabiki curled up under the blankets while Kasumi slipped a long knife under her pillow.
“Good night Ranma-kun, Luan Ko, little sister,” Kasumi said with a yawn.
“Good night Kasumi, everyone,” Nabiki replied sleepily.
“Mrowww,” Luan Ko answered while trying to stifle a yawn.
“G’night Kasumi, Nabiki, Luan Ko.” Ranma adjusted himself to get more comfortable in his chair before nodding off.
The sun fell gently through the window as Ranma blinked his eyes open. Luan Ko was already stretching herself out, on all fours. Her shoulders and head reaching up and back as her unbound breasts wobbled beneath the shirt she wore to sleep in. Ranma noticed Kasumi was starting to stir, but Nabiki, as every morning, seemed to still be dead to the world. Ranma watched the two sisters for a moment. Kasumi’s eyes opened, scanned the room, and met his. She gave him a cute smile which Ranma returned. Ranma stretched out, got up, moved his chair from the door, and opened the door to head to the inn’s outhouse. On his way out, he noticed Luan Ko was just sitting by the window, staring at the motes of dust floating about in the sunbeam.
When he returned to the room, Ranma noticed both Kasumi and Nabiki were awake and out of bed. Ranma stretched out again, then began to get his stuff so he could dress.
Nabiki, who never had much to put on and was already dressed, hurried over to give Ranma a hand. “Would you like some help, Ranma?” Nabiki blushed and bit her bottom lip as she looked down; her right foot was behind her left ankle trying to grind her toe into the floor.
Ranma didn’t seem to notice as he start to put on his armor. “No thanks, I got it. But, thank you for offering; I appreciate it.”
Nabiki paused for a moment to work up some courage. Hesitantly, she tried a different approach. “If you like ... you had a late night, last night, and you slept in a chair. You could take a day off, relax in bed. ...I could stay with you, help you relax...” Nabiki trailed off, still blushing furiously.
“No, that’s fine. I’m anxious to get this dungeon done and over with.”
Ranma inhaled deeply as the waitress placed a dish of eggs, hash, and hagis in front of him. “Smells wonderful. My compliments to the chef.”
Nabiki blushed while looking down at her plate, playing with her food.
“Ranma-darling,” Kasumi sing-songed before dropping her voice into a conspiratorial whisper, “You seemed awfully shy last night and this morning. Don’t you find little sister attractive?”
“Huh – what? What does that have to do with anything, Kasumi?”
“Kasumi!” Nabiki hissed out in a low whisper, embarrassed that they were discussing this in a crowded inn.
“Ranma, how can little sister survive with out earning any experience points?”
“Aww, come on ‘Sumi-chan. You know I ain’t no pervert,” Ranma whined.
Kasumi just smiled sadly and let the matter drop for the time being. Once breakfast was quickly done with, the quartet got up to leave. Not far from the Inn, they came across an adventurer wearing torn clothing and rags. He was sitting in the dusty street, crying desperately.
“Oh my! Are you all right, sir?” Kasumi asked the wretched man.
“No! Why would you even think I was?” He mournfully replied.
“What is wrong, then?” Kasumi tried again to find out what was bothering the man.
Ranma also decided to join the conversation. “Did some monster steal the love of your life? A magical prince kidnap your fiancée? Turns out your arranged marriage is to a monkey or chimp?” Ranma got some odd looks from nearby townsfolk for his last question.
“No, none of those,” the man said with a hiccup. “It’s just ... I don’t know where I am.”
“Oh, you are in South Town, I think,” Kasumi replied in a helpful tone.
“No, no. I meant I don’t know what game I am in. I bought a computer from a cart pushed by a man in some kind of purple dress or mu’u mu’u. When I got home, I saw the computer already had a game installed. So I clicked on it. I thought it was the Star Wars game Trials of Obi-Wan, but it turns out it was Trails of Robeast-Swan. I woke up in some desert and almost got ran over by all these giant robotic lions. And a giant monster nearly stepped on me. And then, I ran into this green skinned, warty witch named Haggar, and she cursed me, sending me to a far away dimension, which is how I got here. And I don’t know how to get home!” The man resumed bawling.
“Here, get some warm food. Everything will be better with some warm food.” Kasumi dropped some coins into his lap. The quartet looked at each other for a moment before Ranma shrugged and continued walking. As the four put some distance between them and the miserable wretch, Kasumi turned to Ranma and asked, “What do you think?”
“He’s screwed” was his simple reply.
Nabiki looked glum. “Kind of like how we are?”
Ranma felt like a heel, he hadn’t thought about how Nabiki would react when he commented. He didn’t think at all about the comment before voicing it, being the brutally and bluntly honest type. But it made sense, in hindsight, as her situation wasn’t that much different from that wretched and world lost man. Ranma looked over to Kasumi for help in reassuring Nabiki.
“No, not like we are,” Ranma mentioned, lost as to why.
“Ranma-kun is right, little sister. You have us, and that will make the difference.”
Ranma smiled at Kasumi’s statement, then smiled confidently at Nabiki. “Kasumi is right, Nabiki. I’ll get you out of here, like I said I would. And unlike that man, you entered through the character generation process. You were not cursed to drop in by some evil witch.”
“How do you know I wasn’t cursed by some kind of malevolent or mischievous spell? In fact, do you even know how to get out? All the time we have been here so far, we spent exploring that dungeon. Where are we going? What leads do we have? Who do we ask?” Nabiki’s voice started to become hysterical. Ranma thought she might be trying to hold back tears, as well.
Kasumi put her arm around her younger sister. “Relax, it’ll all work out. We just have to explore a bit. I am sure that an exit must exist near the end, for those who manage to make it that far, as a reward for the effort. We need to play the game by its rules, though. We just can’t rush off without earning level ups, or we’ll never survive. I am sure, somewhere, is the information we need. How big can this world be?”
A chill of doom ran down Ranma’s spine, boding an ill omen. ‘I hope that wasn’t a famous last words.’
Nabiki smiled, cheering up a bit. Luan Ko prancing around like a playful kitten may have helped. “Your right, of course. There must be something for those who win, otherwise why even play to begin with.” Ranma wisely stayed silent on how gamers would play to play the game, not because of what they would get out of the game.
Ranma playfully slapped Nabiki’s arm. “That’s the spirit. You stick with me, and we’ll go places. We may even go home.” His smirk told everyone that he was being purposefully tongue in cheek.
Nabiki cheered up a bit more. She couldn’t help but notice how happy Kasumi was and how relaxed Ranma has been. ‘I have rarely seen Kasumi smile so brightly before. And whatever she did to Ranma’s stat things, it seems to have been for the better. Away from Nerima, he seems to be enjoying life more. They are only here because of a mistake I made. I can’t let them throw away their lives for me. I’ll have to do what I can to win; so we can go home again. I only hope they never have to choose between me and going home.’ Trying to stifle a yawn, Nabiki thought about how far away the dungeon laid. ‘I rather sleep in, today.’ Her mood became soured from her lack of sleep.
Ranma stretched to work some kinks out of his muscles. They were only halfway to the dungeon and just dispatched a small party of goblins. Just to keep things interesting, Ranma conducted his fight with his left arm behind his back the entire time.
“Done showing off, Saotome?” Nabiki was still sitting wedged up in a tree where Ranma had placed her when he heard the Goblins approach. “If so, I’d like to get down now, please.” Nabiki scowled, her mood fouled by the long walk to the dungeon and and the discomfort of being stuck in a tree.
Ranma leaped up onto a nearby branch. “Sorry, Nabby-chan. Let’s get you down from there.”
“Nabby-chan?” Nabiki exclaimed in unamused contempt.
Ranma cluelessly blinked for a moment. “Would you prefer Nabby-kun, instead?” His smirk just infuriated Nabiki further, who chose to grumble to herself as Ranma jumped down while carrying her.
Kasumi, meanwhile, was sucking on one of her fingers. Looking at it, she held it out to Nabiki. “Medic!” Kasumi mock screamed with poorly concealed amusement.
Nabiki rolled her eyes, in response, and did a minor healing spell.
Kasumi pouted. “You’re not going to kiss it better?”
Nabiki sighed.
“Luan Ko has a boo boo on her butt that needs kissing,” Ranma joked before catching Kasumi’s eye. Both of them shared a laugh while Nabiki hung her head.
“Are you OK, little sister?”
Nabiki grumbled under her breath some more. Then, with a sigh, she spoke up, “How can the two of you be so chipper? We had a late night of dancing and hiking up a mountain, and this backwater place hasn’t even stumbled upon the miracle of coffee yet.”
Ranma’s smirk softened into a concerned smile. “How about we rest for a bit, then?”
The group got comfortable and rested. Luan Ko curled up on a sunny spot while the others rested in the shade. Nabiki laid flat on the ground with Ranma sitting cross legged by her head. Kasumi, meanwhile, rested against a tree trunk nearby, braiding some flowers into a crown.
“Pleasant day out,” Kasumi mentioned conversationally. Ranma grunted in response.
After a few seconds of silence, Kasumi tried again. “Think we’ll get to the final boss today? I’d like to move on.”
“Yeah, sure,” Ranma absently replied. “Getting tired of the game already, ‘Sumi?”
Kasumi chortled before choking down her giggles. “Hardly. I just want to see more of the world. Why be tied to one place here, when it is so easy to just pick up and leave.”
“Well ... We still have to figure out where to go to get ‘Biki fixed. I don’t think we’ll find anything here. Can’t go home until then.” Ranma’s expression turns wistful.
Kasumi noticed the change come over Ranma. “A yen for your thought, Ranma-kun.”
Ranma grunted before replying. “Just wondering what the uncute tomboy is up to. Probably getting herself kidnapped or something without me around to keep her out of trouble.”
“Worried about little sister?” Kasumi smirked. “Or do you just miss her?”
“Me, miss that violent gorilla? Whatever.” However, Ranma didn’t have the usual heat and vigor in his answer that he normally would. It seemed like his heart wasn’t into it.
“Of course, Ranma. How silly of me.” Kasumi didn’t sound convinced.
Silence fell on the group again as Ranma stared off into the distance and Kasumi worked on braiding a crown.
“It’s alright if you miss her, you know. We won’t think you’re less of a man for having soft feelings.” Kasumi tried to reassure Ranma, suspecting that he needed to talk.
“Well, I don’t miss her.” Ranma denied once more.
“I’m sure she’d miss you. Your other friends too. No reason why you can’t make some new friends here. Maybe you’ll even find yourself betrothed to yet another girl, if you look hard enough.” Kasumi giggled lightly at the thought.
“No thanks,” Ranma grumbled, “I have more then enough already. And you know how Akane would not like it if I came home with yet another fiancée. Like I asked to be chased by girls who don’t take no for an answer. Not that Akane ever tried to see it from my point of view.”
“What point of view is that?”
“Er, nothing. Though, she acts like I can’t have friends who are girls just because I am in an engagement I didn’t even ask for.”
“Well, obviously you shouldn’t be better friends with someone not your fiancée,” Nabiki stated.
“Yeah...” Ranma trailed off wistfully. “I wonder what she’d think of this place?” Ranma plucked a blade of grass and started to play with it. Knotting, tying, and untying it.
Kasumi pressed on. “Is that why you won’t let us get close? Thinking of Akane?”
“It wouldn’t be right, would it, to cheat on my fiancée with her sisters?” Ranma replied defensively.
Kasumi tsked. “It’s not like any of this is real. It is only a game, after all.”
“Feels real enough to me. And anyways, Ranma Saotome doesn’t give up, not when he says he’ll do something.”
“Referring to yourself in the third person, Ranma? Sure sign of insanity if you ask me,” Kasumi teased Ranma. “And what do you mean by giving up?”
“I said I’d get Nabiki out of here and that we go home. All of this is only temporary, soon we’ll be back where we belong. Everything will go back to being the same.”
Nabiki stirred to look at Ranma. Kasumi stopped braiding the flowers as a pensive frown settled on her features. Kasumi thought she might have it worked out. “You’re afraid accepting Nabiki as a sex slave means you’re giving up? Because you think the only way you’d cheat on Akane is if you were stuck here with no hope of returning? Is that what you’re trying to say, Ranma?”
Fidgeting, Ranma looked down, his fingers playing with the grass. “Yeah, mostly. And if I give up, then what does ‘Biki have to look forward to? She’d have no hope then, and I think she’s too good for a life as someone’s toy.” Ranma sighed, growing silent again.
Nabiki patted Ranma’s knee. “It’s OK, Ranma. It might not even be possible to save me. You shouldn’t have to give up on your life just for me.”
Ranma gave Nabiki a reassuring look. “Nabs, I make it a point to do at least one impossible thing a day, maybe getting you out of here will be one of those. And I promise you, you won’t be stuck in here alone. You don’t think I’d actually abandon you here, cursed to be someone’s sex slave? I’m going to get you out. I’m going to get all of use out of here. Then we can go back to the way it was, well as much as we can. And I’ll once again be ‘Kane’s problem, not yours.”
Nabiki smiled sadly up at Ranma. “You’re not a problem, Ranma. And what if you’re still my master when we get back? Nothing is going to be the same again, is it? Maybe nothing will ever be the same again, even if we do get back. How do we even fix any of this or get out?”
“Find a mod, I imagine. They would have a godlike control over the game.” Kasumi then shrugged. “Who knows, you might have to log-off before they can edit your character. Or, your file is on the laptop, and we’d need an editor to change it. It is not like we had much time to look over the game, Ranma needed to get to you before someone else did.” Kasumi then got up and sat next to Ranma, putting her arm around him. “Nabiki’s right. You’re not a problem. I like having you around, and I like being here with you. Everything will turn out alright in the end, you’ll see.” With that, she planted a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Ranma sighed and stayed silent.
“Why don’t you get some sleep, little sister. We can wait an hour or so before we move on.” Kasumi returned to finishing her braiding, sitting quietly next to Ranma.
‘Just great!’ Nabiki thought. She was busy trying to avoid ceramic grenades. There were only in the dungeon for five minutes when a group of kobolds and goblins surprised them. And while no one was actively targeting her, she was still susceptible to collateral damage.
Ranma gave Luan Ko a great heave, throwing her behind the kobold slingers. Kasumi dispatched a goblin with a vicious kick that shattered his nose bone and impaled it through his brain, only to fall to a goblin dogpile. Seeing this, Ranma jumped over a couple goblins attacking him and began to pull the goblins off of Kasumi. A goblin bit into his ankle as another tackled him, but he shook them both off.
Meanwhile, Luan Ko was busy with the kobolds who were using their staff-slings as quarterstaffs. She managed to kill two of them, but was currently on the defensive. Kasumi was having success knocking the goblins off of her as Ranma helped to remove them. He didn’t use his sword, for fear of harming Kasumi, but his swift punches and kicks made short work of the goblins. Helping Kasumi to her feet, they stood back to back in a circle of goblins. Luan Ko tagged another kobold with a poisoned dart to its throat. The kobold dropped, grasping at his neck while gasping and gurgling.
Kasumi beheaded a goblin with a savage chop of her sword. Ranma dismembered another goblin by yanking roughly on its arm while he punched at the shoulder. The goblin screamed in pain as his arm was torn off. Batting aside another goblin with the torn limb, Ranma fired off a Möko Takabisha at the kobolds as a couple were preparing to launch more projectiles. The group of kobolds broke up, giving Luan Ko an advantage. She dropped another two before they could regroup, reducing the number to a more manageable level should they storm her again.
Ranma and Kasumi dodged an incoming clay grenade, as one of the kobolds was able to retaliate against Ranma’s preemptive strike. Ranma and Kasumi were able to jump over the blast and the goblins, but the goblins took damage from the explosion and clay fragments. From that point, the battle was all downhill for the monsters.
Hearing grunts and goblins gibbering, Ranma slowly peeked around the corner. He saw a small band of goblins wagering while rolling some knuckle bones. They were loud and riotous, and Ranma doubted they were aware of their surroundings. Sliding back along the wall, Ranma motioned for Kasumi to take a peek.
“What do you think? We should be able to defeat them before they know what hit them,” Ranma whispered to her.
Kasumi nodded as she unslung her bow. “Yeah, they should pose no problem.”
What followed was the quickest goblin beat down that Nabiki had ever witnessed.
The group was working their way through the dungeon and were almost at their destination. Luan Ko was once again clinging to the shadows and acting as point while Ranma ran anchor, in case they were attacked from behind. The flickering torches spaced infrequently along the wall and Kasumi’s own firebrand cast a meek illumination of the corridor; the shadows clung fiercely to the hallway and the low visibility effectively isolated the adventurers. It was only with a mild surprise that Nabiki noticed Luan Ko’s back suddenly emerged from the darkness. She had stopped advancing, falling into a fighting stance, and was busy sniffing the air. Her hand gestured for silence as well as signaling a warning that something or things were nearby. Ranma quietly made his way through the stopped group to stand by Luan Ko. Kasumi held her torch high and out, attempting to light the passageway ahead of them. However, its feeble light did little to rend the darkness.
Kasumi gave Ranma a look, with her right eyebrow raised, that was requesting his permission or agreement. Ranma nodded to Kasumi the go ahead. Kasumi gave Nabiki the torch to hold aloft. Muttering under her breath, Kasumi made arcane hand gestures before raising both hands and shouting, “Nova Flash!” The hallway erupted in a brilliant glare of light, as a small ball of illumination was born a short distance down the corridor, revealing two well armored orcs each with a pack of five wolves on leashes. The monsters howled in pain from the unexpected light.
“Shit!” Ranma swore. “Nabiki, get out of here. Fall back!” Ranma’s order came in the nick of time as the orcs dropped the chains in their hands, releasing the collared hunting pack to swiftly run at the humans. The large wolves, enthusiastic with blood lust, barked, brayed, and yipped as they rushed at the group. Luan Ko had Nabiki’s leash, encouraging her to run faster. Ranma and Kasumi lagged behind to protect the others. Ranma stopped to turn and fire a Möko Takabisha at the encroaching wolves. Many stumbled but got back up again. Kasumi fired arrows at the wolves, but they kept running.
“Aim for the orcs, before we get dogpiled,” Ranma ordered.
Kasumi nodded once and aimed again, burying a shaft through the slit in a helm’s visor and deep into an orc’s eye. He clutched at his face, grunting in pain, before stumbling and falling forward. The other orc ran on, following the guard wolves. Kasumi tried to aim again, but this orc was smarter then the average orc, and zig zagged slightly to throw off her aim. Kasumi got one shot off, flying wide of the dodging orc, before the wolves reached her. They jumped her, jaws snapping and drooling saliva, bringing her down.
Ranma was already harried by wolves who had clamped down hard on his arms and legs with their jaws. The wolves hadn’t brought Ranma down yet, but were giving him a good fight. Swinging his arms together mightily, he bashed two of the wolves into each other before shaking them off. Ranma punched another wolf out of midair, that had been leaping for his throat. He blocked yet another wolf by shoving his forearm into its mouth. Grabbing the wolf’s neck with his free hand and applying pressure while twisting his arm, Ranma snapped its neck, killing it instantly. Bringing a foot up, he stomped hard onto the neck of another wolf, crushing it.
Kasumi was wrestling with wolves on the floor, unable to draw her sword. “Ranma-kun!” She screamed, panic starting to set in. “I forget, did we transmigrate your Hiryū Shōten Ha?”
Ranma grunted as he stumbled backwards. “In this confined space? Are you nuts?”
Kasumi noticed that the wolf trying to get at her face, the one she was struggling with, suddenly sported three ninja stars. The wolf seemed to be growing weaker too. Catching her breath, for a moment, she had time to ask, “How about a Dark Sky Crush? Or the Over Drive?”
Ranma heard growling and yipping behind him. Knowing that some wolves got past, he looked back worriedly to see if Nabiki was alright. He saw Luan Ko clinging desperately to the wall, high up, where the jumping wolves couldn’t reach. Nabiki was between her arms, pressed tightly to the wall. Every few seconds, The nekomata seemed to slip imperceptibly lower. Ranma’s distraction cost him as the orc tackled him to the floor. Batting away the muzzle of a wolf, he responded, “I’m kinda saving that for the boss.” Ranma caught the descending fist of the orc, knocking it aside to punch the floor. Ranma then kneed the orc in his groin as he headbutted the brute. However, the orc’s helm absorbed the head blow.
“Ranma!” Kasumi shouted in exasperation from under a pile of wolves. She managed to kick some off, or knock a few away but more quickly replaced them before she could get up.
Grabbing the orc in a choke hold, Ranma planted a foot in its gut and flipped it off over his head. “OK, OK,” Ranma agreed. Activating his Over Drive, Ranma threw the wolves off of him with a burst of new strength and speed. Pulling his sword, he quickly beheaded the orc as it was trying to get up. Next, he yanked Kasumi up from out under the wolves and jumped away to make some distance. A Möko Takabisha scattered the wolves hounding Luan Ko and Nabiki. Shouting, “Dark Sky Crush,” he finally finished off the wolves as he launched his biggest and most draining magical attack.
Ranma blew some air out as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “That was some fight, reminds me of the time that pops was training me in endurance. How’s everybody?”
“I’m fine,” Kasumi mentioned after looking over herself. “Nothing I can’t heal up.”
Nabiki, still looking a little shaken, just nodded.
“Nyaow, pur-r-r-r-r,” Luan Ko voiced as she shrugged.
“Alright, good. I still have enough SP to use health draining specials, but do we have any SP potions?” Ranma asked Nabiki.
Ranma led the others up to a large set of tall doors. They seemed to be made from black iron and carved with grotesque, naked figures and demons. A feeling of cold seeped through the seams in the doorway. Nabiki didn’t notice she began to rub her arms, nor did she notice that she shrunk in towards Ranma.
“Looks like the big boss is behind those doors,” Ranma mentioned.
“Yes, Ranma-kun. Maybe we should make sure we’re as healed and rested as we can be before going in. I brought some potions.” Kasumi reached towards the bag Nabiki carried all the time.
“Sounds like a good idea. Need anything Luan Ko?” Ranma motioned for the cat-girl ninja to approach.
Soon, the group was as ready as they could be. Ranma heaved against the doors, which opened with a blast of cold and a loud screech of rusty hinges and heavy wood being dragged along stone.
“If there was any bad guys waiting for us, they’ll know we’re here, now,” Nabiki griped.
Ranma looked back sheepishly and blushed as he said, “Sorry ‘bout that. It kind of sounded like the wail of lost and tormented souls, though. I think the noise is just to unnerve us as well as alert any guards.
Cautiously stepping over the threshold, the group entered the final part of the dungeon. A corridor lead to their right a short distance before ending at a stairway that spiraled up to the left. Two tall minotaurs stood guard by the first step, each carrying a hefty halberd and wearing half plate armor. It was obvious that the guards were well aware of their presence.
Ranma looked at Kasumi. Kasumi looked at Ranma. They both shrugged and looked back to the minotaurs. Brandishing their swords, they charged forward as Nabiki went to sit out the battle in the corner.
‘Brr,’ Nabiki thought as she rubbed her arms, ‘cold stone floor.’
One minotaur had tried to cleave Ranma in twain with a strong downward swing of his poleaxe while the other minotaur swung his horizontally like a baseball bat. Ranma sidestepped the former before jumping over the latter as Kasumi ducked under the halberd.
Ranma retaliated, while still mid-air, by slicing down on the first minotaur’s head, but the guard stepped back. Meanwhile, Kasumi attempted to thrust her sword into the unprotected joint in the armor under the armpit, but the second minotaur defended himself by swinging the butt of his polearm down and up, parrying her blade.
The minotaur that Kasumi was fighting took advantage of her in close distance by headbutting her. Kasumi was nearly gored by the bovine horns on his head. Meanwhile, Ranma’s minotaur held his halberd out in front of him horizontally and shoved it towards Ranma, attempting to clothesline him.
Luan Ko silently landed behind the minotaurs, and immediately took advantage of her flanking maneuver. She chopped into the unprotected back of the knee of the minotaur that Kasumi was facing. It roared in pain as it dropped to one knee, using his halberd for support, but it was still dangerous. Twisting around to face his attacker, the minotaur swung his polearm with all his might at Luan Ko, who had simply leaped upwards and back to land higher up on the stairs. Kasumi, getting up from where she landed after receiving the headbutt, used her sword to slice into the guard’s neck as much as she could. Her sword only cleaved into the neck by less then an inch as strong sinews and muscles resisted her attack. The minotaur roared in pain and turned to face Kasumi once again. Blood bled profusely from it’s neck wound. Angry eyes flashed from under a heavy brow as a berserker rage overtook the guard’s mind. The guard lunged forward in an attempt to skewer Kasumi on his halberd, but Kasumi nimbly sidestepped him. Luan Ko immediately pounced upon his back and brought a dagger around to stab him right in his eye, burying the dagger up to its hilt. A warm, viscous fluid sprayed onto Luan Ko’s hand as the guard bellowed once more in pain and rage. Luan Ko held on tighter as she twisted the dagger.
Meanwhile, Ranma managed to snap the staff of the halberd being held by the guard he was facing. The minotaur responded by lunging forward, attempting to capture Ranma in a back breaking bear hug. Ranma ducked under the charge and rolled to the side. He retaliated with a Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken targeting his assailant’s left kidney. The guard stumbled before lashing out with a backhanded swing with his left arm which Ranma stepped back away from. Lowing angrily, as he held his side with his other hand, the minotaur fixed his beady eyes as he stamped the floor with his right foot. Ranma realized the guard wasn’t just bending over in pain, but preparing to bullrush him. The minotaur charged forward suddenly, attempting to gore Ranma upon his horns.
By backing into a wall hard and grappling with his hands, the minotaur was successful in dislodging Luan Ko, pulling her over his shoulders and throwing her to the ground. Luan Ko rolled out of the way of his stamping feet. Kasumi took advantage of the guard’s distraction, and blindside, and thrust her sword into his gut. Roaring in pain from being run through, the minotaur punched Kasumi in the face, causing her to stumble backwards. While the poison from Luan Ko’s dagger and the blood lost was slowing him down and making him weaker, the Minotaur was still formidable for the time being. However, focused as he was on Kasumi, he never noticed Luan Ko sneak up behind him and bury a spike into his upper spine, severing his vertebrae and spinal cord. With a wet, bloody gurgle, he fell over.
Ranma grabbed both horns of the onrushing bull headed man, and used both the bulls attempt to throw him off and his own leg power to vault up over the minotaur while still maintaining his hold. Letting go of one horn so he could twist about, Ranma faced forward and returned his grasp with a cross armed grip. His legs wrapped around the guard’s torso and Ranma mounted the bullish warrior. The minotaur jumped, bucked, twisted and did everything it could to throw Ranma off. However, Ranma hanged on, applying more and more pressure with his legs. Ranma changed the grip of one his hands to wrap instead around the guard’s meaty neck. He then shifted his other hold so he could grab his own arm and apply a choke hold. Between his arms and legs, the minotaur was beginning to have difficulties breathing. Panicking, the guard tried to dislodge Ranma by backing into a wall, but Ranma held on tighter and tighter each time. Soon, the minotaur fell face forward, unconscious from lack of air.
Dusting his hands off as he got up, Ranma said, “Well, wasn’t that exciting? Are you OK, Kasumi?”
“I’ll be fine, just sore. What about you Luan Ko?”
Luan Ko meowed quickly and nodded her head to show she was fine. Nabiki joined the group by the base of the stairs. “Wow, those guys seemed even tougher then the others we met so far.”
“Yeah,” Ranma replied distractedly as he brushed the dust off of his armor, “we’re getting close to the end. The monsters near the boss tend to give better fights. They’re like the elite guards, in a way.” Once he was done fixing himself up, Ranma motioned for the others to follow. “Come on, looks like we go up.”
After a series of regular fights spaced out along the spiral staircase, the group finally arrived at a door at the top of the tower. The stairs had swept upwards around the outer wall of the tower and along it’s seemingly interminable length more minotaurs and other tough guards were encountered. The fights were made less easy by the insecure footing that the stairs offered. The width of the stairway allowed swords to be comfortably used by two abreast, which was good for the group but also good for the defenders. By the time Ranma had reached the top, they were out of healing potions and Nabiki was too tired to heal much more.
Ranma addressed his companions. “Well, this must be it. Ready?”
Kasumi and Luan Ko nodded affirmative while Nabiki just shrugged then stretched out.
Ranma pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Ranma pushed harder, but it still wouldn’t open. Before attempting to give it a mighty shove, he turned to look at Kasumi. “Do you think we need to find a key first?” Ranma raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.
Kasumi’s response was cut off by Nabiki tapping Ranma on his shoulder before pointing to a sign on the door.
“Pull to Open” the sign had read. Ranma grinned sheepishly before saying, “Oops!”
Inside, the quartet found themselves in a large round chamber. All around, littered on the benchtops, were all sorts of magical research paraphernalia and potion making equipment. Many kinds of brass instruments and astronomical tools were scattered about. The walls were lined with bookshelves ladened with many large tomes and grimoires. A ghost floated up through the floor and regarded them first with a look of shock before it gave way to anger.
“Who are you to trespass in my innermost sanctum?” The ghost of R’aul bellowed.
Ranma shrugged. “Are you the ghost of R’aul?”
The ghost was taken aback, upset that someone as great and famous as him was not recognized. “Don’t you know who I am, little worms?” The group all shook their heads no. R’aul was stunned at the response. Dismayed and angry, he decided to explain his greatness to his uninvited guests.
“When I was young, I trained under a great warlock. We almost succeeded in finding a way to turn people into slaves. Slaves are born, not made, and one who could make a slave, could control the slave market. But some bandits broke in, killed my master, and stole his research. But I got the last laugh, for it would take them generations to break the coded journals, and only another warlock could finish the research. So, masterless, I set out into the world. I gained power, money, and followers, so I came here. Back to the area where I was trained under my dear, dead master. I built this stronghold, enchanted it, and protected it. No one will ever learn all of my secrets, and the likes of you are no trouble at all. For, I will kill you now. In life and in death, this is my home, and you are not welcomed here at all. Uninvited vermin, DIE!”
The ghostly boss launched a spread of three glowing spheres of pale ghostly fire. The group broke up as everyone dodged in different directions. A quick look and hand gesture from Ranma to Luan Ko had her rushing to get to Nabiki and pull her to relative safety.
“If you give up now, I promise to make your deaths quick and painless,” R’aul boasted as he conjured a ring of ghostly fire around himself.
Ranma and Kasumi decided to respond with action instead of words. Kasumi nocked an arrow in her bow and took aim. Ranma jumped over the fire and attempted a flying kick, but he passed right through the ghost. Kasumi’s arrow, fired after Ranma cleared the target, likewise passed through the ghost doing no harm.
“Hahahaha,” R’aul mocked them with his laughter. “Do you really think your flimsy little mortal weapons would have an effect on one who has conquered death?”
Meanwhile, Ranma and Kasumi regrouped along with Luan Ko. “Any ideas?” Ranma asked Kasumi, as they tried to put a bench or two in between them and R’aul.
Kasumi shook her head to indicate she had none. Their discussion was interrupted as more monsters joined the fray.
“Get them, my minions,” crowed the evil wizard as he raised a small group of skeletal beasties with his magic.
The creatures rose up through the floor. They were seemingly composed from the skeletons of several different beasts and monsters. A long, horse like skull with long, sharp fangs topped a bipedal form with giant bat like wings sprouting from its back. Two pairs of shoulders supported four arms. Long finger bones ended in equally long claws. Toes were terminated with curved talons. A pale, transparent aura fleshed out the forms of the unholy creations. Acting like they had sniffed out some prey, the magical constructs closed in on Ranma and his friends. They made a strangle rattling noise as they approached.
Kasumi pondered the situation. “Do you think we have to defeat his army to beat him, or try to beat him while his army attacks?”
“I don’t know. How would you beat a magical ghost?” Ranma questioned her.
“With magic, maybe,” Nabiki said, expressing the obvious. She was cowering under a table not far from where her teammates stood.
However, further discussion had to wait as the monsters entered melee range.
Luan Ko let loose with the last of her throwing stars, but only the ones that struck bone seemed to do any damage. The rest passed swiftly through the ghostly flesh as if nothing was their. Pulling out her ninjato sword, she stood to Ranma’s left while Kasumi took up on Ranma’s right.
“Go for the bone. Kasumi, do you know any spells effective against the undead?”
With a leap and a snarl, the beasts were upon them. The three fighters each marked an enemy and forced the beasts to fight them man on man. Luan Ko blocked the swipe of a clawed hand with her sword and retaliated with a back kick of her own, driving her heel hard into the pelvis of the skeletal construct. Ranma ducked and weaved the attacks from his adversary, who was getting frustrated enough to use its wing bones as well as its many arms to keep up a constant pressure of attacks against Ranma. Finally leaving an opening, the ghostly warrior’s offense was halted by a focused chestnut fist attack by Ranma. Over a hundred punches impacted as one upon the breastbone of the demonic looking minion, cracking the bone and knocking the entity backwards. Kasumi did not fare as well, finding four arms to be a little much for her to avoid. Finding herself grappled tightly by the many armed beast, she gave it a firm and solid headbutt, staggering it. Angry, it shrieked before leaning in to bite her, but Kasumi kneed it hard in the crotch before wiggling and pushing it off. The maddened skeleton beast lunged at her, only to meet Kasumi’s sword as she decapitated it with a swing. Her opponent was the first to dissolve into dust as pale blue, ghostly energies dissipated into the ether. Nabiki, during all of this, stayed hidden under a table, trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible.
“You may have gotten lucky, little girl, but your struggles are only postponing your inevitable defeat,” the ghost boss scolded Kasumi in a voice that promised pain. Kasumi looked over at him just in time to notice that he sent three more spirit bombs in her direction. With a lunge and a roll, Kasumi dodged the magical missiles as they passed safely over her head and exploded against the wall.
Ranma’s win was next, as he saw how effective Kasumi’s attack was. Grasping an arm that had been grabbing for him, Ranma threw the monster onto a nearby table. Many glass vials and bottles, each filled with a colorful liquid, broke underneath the beast causing the ghostly boss to screech, “My experiments!” Jumping up, Ranma came down upon the head of the beast with his right knee, snapping it’s neck against the table’s edge. The head tumbled along the floor as it, and the body it was separated from, collapsed into dust as well. Ranma noticed the boss flashed a little with the defeat of his minion.
“You vandals, you thugs, you tramps and thieves. Why don’t you have the good graces to just roll over and die?!” R’aul was spitting mad and his eyes seemed like lightening: fiercesome, dangerous, and menacing. A clap of his hands caused an expanding ring of energy to explode from him. The spectral energy sliced through the room, passing safely through inanimate objects and his spectral and skeletal minion. Kasumi had ducked the pale blue ring of energy and Ranma jumped over it. However, the ring had impacted Luan Ko, knocking her sideways. Her opponent took advantage of her being down and pounced. Fortunately, Luan Ko rolled out of the way. She got back onto her feet with an impressive flip. Wiping some blood from her mouth, Luan Ko finished up her opponent by spending some SP on a powerful attack. The result of her Cat Scratch Fever was the skeleton raining down in a cloud of bony bits and dust.
With an inarticulate scream of rage, R’aul began to summon up another band of defenders to attack the adventurers. His ghostly body seemed to blink while he worked the spell. Noticing what he was up to, Kasumi tried to distract the warlock, by attacking, before he could finish his spell. The arrow she fired seemed to have actually struck him and the boss suffered a loss of life points.
“He’s vulnerable when he blinks, get him,” Kasumi shouted to Ranma as she nocked another arrow to fire. Kasumi’s second arrow flew true as Ranma leaped at the floating specter, his sword glinting in the torchlight as he slashed at the dungeon’s boss. Luan Ko’s throwing knives struck the ghost right behind Ranma’s own attack. Kasumi’s third arrow was ineffective as R’aul stopped blinking.
The boss laughed an evil, mirthless laugh. “I underestimated you, but not again. These should finish off pests like you. Didn’t I say you were unwelcomed here.”
Ranma rejoined his group as a new wave of monstrosities rose out of the floor, once again. Decaying and decrepit, five giant, four legged, reptilian beasts stared down the trio. They were gray, with rotting flesh falling off of their body, long bony spikes stuck out every which way from their armor plated bodies. Horns on their heads, mouths full of sharp, meat tearing teeth, and large spiked balls on their tails, showed that these zombie predators were very dangerous to face. Snuffling and snarling, the large dead animals stood their ground and challenged the explorers.
“Oh boy,” Ranma deadpanned. Kasumi just nodded and Luan Ko whimpered for a moment.
“We can do this,” Ranma whispered to his friends. “Anyone else notice that defeating his army hurts the boss?”
“Really? That is good,” Kasumi replied. “And he seems vulnerable when he calls them up. I didn’t notice the first time, maybe the more he raises, the more magic he needs to cast, and the longer he’s able to be hurt.”
The undead creatures tired of the stare down and began to charge at the three fighters. The floor trembled and a great, thundering din arose from their many stampeding feet.
Kasumi and Luan Ko dodged to the sides while Ranma ran towards where Nabiki hid. Grabbing her, he jumped up towards the ceiling and stuffed her into some kind of hanging brass and silver astronomical contraption. The passage of the beasts underneath scattered the workbenches and knocked over many loose objects.
R’aul screamed in fury, “No! No! Look at this mess, will you. Aargh.” R’aul’s exclamations descended into an unintelligible yowling of gibberish.
Ranma dropped down. Nodding to Kasumi, they each grabbed one end of a large bench and lifted it. With a couple swings to build momentum, they tossed it at the clump of hulking zombies. It got impaled on the spikes of a couple of the monsters, keeping them busy with trying to free themselves form the wooden table. In the process, they spilled more of R’aul possessions onto the floor, causing him to splutter in incomprehensible wrath.
“Doesn’t he ever shut up?” Ranma asked Kasumi, annoyed by the never ending commentary. Kasumi shrugged in response.
As the great animals started to bear down upon the game players again, Ranma launched a Möko Takabisha at the lead undead beast causing it to be knocked over onto it’s side. As it struggled it regain its feet, two more beasts trod upon it in their pursuit of Ranma and Kasumi. Luan Ko flashed by overhead, tumbling through the air as she attempted to slash at one of the zombie’s neck. However, her sword bounced off of the bony plate doing no harm.
R’aul laughed a mirthless laugh. “Your weapons will be of no use to you, little worms. They are but a gnat’s bite to the greatness of my magic.” He punctuated his statement by launching more glowing balls of spectral energy.
Kasumi didn’t have time to do much more then dodge again. However, once she jumped over and cleared a table, she unslung her bow. Taking careful aim on a rampaging beast, she got off an eye shot that half blinded one of the creatures. Ranma grabbed at the horns of the other charging summoned minion. While he kept himself from being gored and skewered, his feet slid over two yards along the floor. With a mighty shake of its head, the beast threw Ranma up into the air. Twisting and turning insured that Ranma did not land either on the spiked back of the undead horror or in front of any trampling feet. The beast he had downed earlier was bearing down on him, though it seemed to be in pain. The other two had finally extricated themselves from the table. Ranma found himself with three approaching monsters on one side, and two more on the other. R’aul laughed at his predicament. Jumping up and flipping backwards to land by Kasumi, he watched as two of the beasts slammed into each other head on, stunning them. The others passed by each other so close that spikes were broken and shattered between the press of the bodies.
“You got lucky, vermin,” R’aul raged at Ranma.
Scowling, Ranma nodded towards the two unconscious beasts as he met Luan Ko’s eyes. Luan Ko nodded as she approached them. Two quick sword thrusts between the armor plates and into soft unprotected flesh and into the brain pan killed the zombies. Ranma fired another Möko Takabisha to deter the still awake and enraged monsters from attacking Luan Ko. Kasumi buried another arrow shaft into the eye of another beast. When it raised its head to bellow in pain, she targeted the soft underside of its throat, sinking another arrow into its Adam’s apple. Grunting, the beast clawed clumsily at its own throat, trying to dislodge the arrow, but all it accomplished was to break the arrow off leaving the remainder still stuck in its throat. Bellowing in annoyance, the beast gave Kasumi another soft target. Immediately, Kasumi let fly another arrow, and it struck true inside the monster’s mouth. The arrowhead burrowed deep enough through the soft flesh of the palate to strike into the brain of the zombie, killing it. Each death was marked with the boss flashing and losing life points.
“How much longer do you think you can keep this up? My zombie minions do not tire,” R’aul stated scornfully before launching another spirit ripple. The gang ducked under the ring.
“Don’t you ever shut up, you great, big windbag?” Ranma scowled some more. The boss’s chattiness was getting on Ranma’s nerves. His distraction cost Ranma, as the remaining two beasts collided with the table that stood in between them. Kasumi was already dodging, a warning on her lips, but Ranma was thrown back into a bookshelf along the wall. The shelving broke and books spilled all over Ranma and the floor. Luan Ko dashed by the zombie beasts, whacking them on the nose with her sword, to distract them from Ranma.
“Break some more of my stuff, why don’t you?” R’aul’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Ranma just grumbled as he dug himself out from underneath the books. He found that Luan Ko was hanging from the same instrument that Nabiki was dangling from and Kasumi was being menaced by the two remaining beasts. The other beasts that were killed were no where to be found.
Ranma charged at the beasts as Luan Ko silently dropped to the floor. Ranma grabbed one of the tails, wrapping his arms around the tail where it met the base of the spiked ball, and pulled. He gagged at the fetid odor of the decaying flesh. The beast scrabbled on the stone floor for purchase before stumbling to the ground. Ranma heaved hard on the tail, whipping the zombie into the air. However, the tail broke off of the beast sending it spiraling into a case of brass instruments and devices. Brass scales, weights, sundials, quadrants, and other objects clattered to the fieldstone floor. R’aul’s cry of rage was drowned out by the lowing of the injured animal as it got back onto its feet.
Meanwhile, Luan Ko used her sword to attack the unprotected back of a hind leg knee of the other beast, capturing its attention. Turning its head to look behind itself, the beast opened a stretch of flesh on its neck. Kasumi immediately advanced and stabbed her sword into that space, between two plates, on the neck. Thrashing, the whipping head wrenched Kasumi’s sword from her grasp. She jumped back, to make space between her and the enraged zombie.
Nabiki called down from her precarious perch, “Go for the brain, Kasumi. Everyone knows that to kill a zombie you have to destroy its brain.”
“Kasumi, try to purify it,” Ranma suggested in a loud voice from over where he was preparing on braining the great zombie beast with its own tail. He held the torn base of the tail, so he could use the spike ball tip to club the beast with.
Kasumi bravely faced the behemoth charging at her and cast a purify at the zombie. It screamed in pain as a pure white light enveloped it. Suddenly, it burst into a conflagration of flames and acrid smoke.
Ranma swung his impromptu flail at the last zombie’s head, knocking the head to the side. However the beast kept charging, forcing Ranma to leap aside. The beast turned with a lot more agility then anything that size should have. Ranma swung again, a downward blow that shattered the horns on the forehead of the great monstrosity. The beast chomped down upon its own tail. Flailing his head, he whipped the appendage away from Ranma before thrashing it around wildly. Ranma tried to catch the tail but he got knocked off his feet and rolled across the floor. The beast spat out its own dismembered tail before turning to stare Ranma down. Ranma grabbed a nearby downed table and threw it along the floor. The table took the beasts feet out from under it, causing it to crash heavily onto the floor. Taking opportunity of the opening, Ranma leaped at the tailless zombie while calling out his attack, “Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!” Caught between the stone floor and Ranma’s chestnut roasting on an open fire fist, the creature’s armored head shattered and its skull split open. Capitalizing on the beasts stunned state, Ranma quickly unsheathed his sword and plunged it through the broken head into the brain of the magical construct.
“What? Fine, I shall call up even more minions. I’ll use up all my magic if I have to in order to get rid of you cockroaches.” R’aul once again began to blink as he summoned the next wave of personal bodyguards.
Ranma fired off a couple Möko Takabisha at the weakening boss. Kasumi shot him with her arrows. Luan Ko leaped at him, slashing with her poisonous sword. The boss was still blinking and still busy raising another army. Ranma thought he seemed to be vulnerable longer then the previous time and decided to ‘strike while the iron is still hot’, as they say. Ranma dashed in with a powerful sword strike followed up with a spinning back kick, knocking the boss into a nearby wall. Ranma raised his fists for another strike when R’aul stopped strobing.
“Hahaha,” R’aul laughed in demented glee. “Knock me into a wall? Attack me in my own lair? Try to steal my treasures? I have finally fixed you, worm.”
R’aul cackled evilly as his summoned minions seemed to flow from the floors and walls of the chamber. Ten of them appeared, spaced evenly around the room, encircling the group instead of starting in a clump like the others. They seemed to be made of the very stones of the keep. Disjointed, stone golem like creatures that were imbued with the pale blue aura of the previous monsters. The ghostly energies were most apparent where two pieces of stone met in a joint. Seemingly, spectral energies were what held the stone imps together. They began to march forward, tightening their circle around the adventurers.
“Hahaha,” R’aul laughed menacingly. “Did you not think that after all the time I spent here, that my very own chamber would not be able to defend me from bandits? Now you shall all die by the very stones of my home.”
“Ranma-kun, got any big attacks left in you?” Kasumi worriedly asked her teammate.
Ranma replied, deep in thought, “I have about enough for two, when I take these down, prepare to move on R’aul. If we all three hit him, I think we can end it now.”
Kasumi and Luan Ko nodded their acknowledgment. As the monsters pounced, Ranma let loose with a Dark Sky Crush, obliterating them. R’aul suffered another large flash as his life points diminished. Ranma and company made their move as the Boss began to flicker and blink.
“I refuse to believe that – erk,” R’aul began to rant, however he was cut off as Ranma launched a Vacuum Blade Storm, Kasumi initiated a Swan Maiden Lament, and Luan Ko targeted the boss with an Elemental Quad-Blast. The attacks collided with R’aul while he was still vulnerable, depleting his life points. With a shrill shriek, the boss collapsed to the floor. With effort, he began to stir, lifting himself up on one arm.
Ranma smirked down at the defeated body of R’aul. It was a hard won victory, and Ranma felt like gloating. The ghostly body of R’aul finished sitting up, with difficulty. His breathing seemed labor, which was seemingly out of place for a ghost.
R’aul addressed the small band of adventurers. “You have w-*wheeze*-won, I shall tell *cough* you a secret. Once, when I was a young teen, *Cough* I wanted to be an elf. So, I went to the Oracle of change. Unfortunately, I did not have enough gold. If only I *Hack* had been able to buy her services. If only I had gone back, I could be beautiful, like your girl there.” He points to Nabiki. “I can see, young one, you wish to change as well.” Blood dribbles from his lips as he spasms. “Find Thermopolis, up in the peaks of the Skyclaws. There, you will find the Temple of *Cough* Callipyge, where the oracle lives. *Cough* You must set forth across the sea. Find *Hack* Turtle Island, the old man there knows the way, *Spasm* but beware the Maelstrom Pass Whirlpool and the songs of the Sea Maidens. *Cough, cough, hack*” Without another word, the ghost fades from existence.
“What now?” Ranma addressed his question to the girls.
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(Posted Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:32)
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