I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don’t like it...well, I can’t please everyone. No flames please. They don’t contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.
Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 2: Infraction of Rules
Aincrad - Starting City November 13th 3:30 PM
Agil rubbed his shoulders as he watched another aspiring adventurer leave his makeshift shop. When the Death Game started, Agil decided that his mercantile skills which he had in real life thanks to his Dicey Cafe were going to be of use. Wanting to do his part to keep as many people alive as possible, he began collecting resources and items which could supply the players with things they needed which he charged a fraction of the price the NPC Merchants did. Things were a little shaky at first since he was just starting, but his experience in the real world allowed him to get situated well enough. By cutting in teams of players or going out himself at times, he could collect plenty of the basic items the players would need. It wasn’t too much in terms of effectiveness, but it was early in the game so only basic supplies were available. Fortunately, most mobs around the city were basic as well.
Agil was a pretty big fellow, being African-American he easily stood above almost every Japanese person he met. He was raised in Japan from a young age, his parents having fallen in love with the country and decided to stay. He faced some discrimination, being dark skinned, tall, and with a shaved head and wearing earrings on his left ear but he never let it bother him. Plenty of people thought he was some kind of leg-breaker for the yakuza when they looked at him for the first time. In his neighborhood though, he was something of the local go-to guy for a patient listening ear or someone you could talk to when you were down. He may have looked intimidating, but he had a heart of gold.
He had heard about SAO during all the hype which had been kicked up about how real the game seemed to the players and the experiences of fighting monsters as if you were really doing it instead of through a keyboard or joystick. being only 25, Agil wasn’t out of touch with the newest crazes like some adults were. With so much positive reviews, Agil decided to give the new game a try. In hindsight, he was pretty glad he hadn’t been able to convince his wife to play the game with him as a couples event. He didn’t need her risking her life in the middle of all the chaos like he was.
When the Death Game began, he was horrified like anyone else. He was also worried. What would happen to his wife? Would she be okay without him? What about his business? One hundred floors was a lot of gaming to go through and everyone would be taking it slow in order to stay alive. Beating Sword Art Online wasn’t going to be an afternoon jaunt or a weekend project. From what he heard, it took Beta Testers a month to get to level 8 and that was the Testers working together when death wasn’t anything to worry about in SAO. Now, everyone was going to be out for themselves and weren’t going to risk themselves until they were ready to curb stomp their opponents.
Unlike many of the other players, Agil didn’t despair and not once did he entertain thoughts of suicide. He had a wife and life to get back to and he wasn’t going to just give up and kill himself because there was no one there to baby him. There was a way out of Sword Art Online and he intended to do his part in helping everyone get there. He didn’t care how long it would take, he was going to get back to the life that Kayaba Akihiko tried to steal!
The creaking of wood alerted Agil to another customer. Looking to the door, he spotted a kid with black hair and a blue tunic walking into his shop. He had a sword slung over his shoulder and it looked like he had a purpose. That could be good or bad. Half the time players entered his shop thinking he had some kind of secret items which could help players survive easier or level up faster. Still, the kid looked like he was serious about what he was looking for.
“Are you Agil?” he asked, not bothering with pleasantries.
“That’s me,” the tall man nodded. “You looking for a cheap set of items?”
“The opposite,” the boy replied. Reaching Agil’s homemade counter, he opened his inventory before materializing several items. All of them looked like metal locks, but each of them had some kind of fruit or seed on the front. Orange, pineapple, two of them were marked with sunflower seeds, and the last one looked like a walnut.
Agil frowned, “And what am I looking at?”
“Lockseeds,” the kid explained. “They grow out in the Helheim Forest. Pick them and they change after a few minutes.”
“Helheim Forest?” Agil frowned. “I’ve never heard of such a place. Just who are you kid?”
“My name’s Kirito,” the boy replied. “And Helheim forest...it…” he shook his head. “it’s a place that shouldn’t exist.”
Now Agil was feeling rather confused, “Shouldn’t exist? What are you talking about kid?”
Kirito looked around, as if trying to see if there was anyone listening in on their conversation, like he was holding some kind of big secret. Seeing no one was around, he leaned in closer and whispered, “A programmer from Argus found out what Akihiko was planning. He wrote in the whole area and a slew of items and creatures to help us out.”
“What?” Agil’s eyes bulged. Someone from outside actually managed to do something to help them out? “Why didn’t he try to shut down the Death Game or something?”
“According to him, Akihiko protected it too well,” Kirito replied. “So instead of taking things out, he added stuff in to try and help us out. These Lockseeds are one thing he put in that can really speed up getting through dungeons and maybe help out in other ways.”
“They will?” Agil pondered. “What do they do?”
“Well…” Kirito picked up a Himawari (sunflower) Lockseed. Holding it up, he pressed a button on the side which caused the actual lock portion to pop open. Quite suddenly, a zipper appeared at the back of the room and pulled down, opening into a scene of what looked like a misty forest. Agil was shocked alone by the opening, but what came out of the hole shocked him more. A gray hunchbacked creature with blue patches of skin hopped out of the hole. It was about the size of a large teddy bear, but in Agil’s opinion it wasn’t nearly as cute as one.
“What the-?!”
“It’s called Inves Warrior Blue,” Kirito explained as the tiny monster wandered about, looking up at the pair curiously. “These guys make up the mobs in the Helheim Forest and they’re human-sized. When I summon one outside, they’re this size. So long as I’m holding the Lockseed that called them, they’re completely docile.”
“But...but...what about AREA?” Agil gaped.
AREA was actually the Anti-Criminal Code Effect. It was a safety system in place in all population centres in Sword Art Online. It was in effect, a barrier which kept monsters outside of the cities where the players could rest. Inside of the area, players couldn’t be hurt by anything that struck them. Their items would be damaged if someone tried, but the player themselves wouldn’t be dealt any damage to their HP or be given any negative status effects. Also players who committed crimes who were given an orange indicator couldn’t enter AREA without NPC guards attacking them.
“Doesn’t seem to bother him,” Kirito shrugged, The small Inves Warrior was wandering around the shop with a claw to its mouth like a wandering child.
“...what makes this so helpful for advancing?” asked Agil, eyeing the strange little creature warily.
Kirito looked to the small Inves, “Climb on top of the desk.” The little Inves Warrior chirped and began using its claws to climb up the side of Agil’s desk and hop onto the surface. Agil immediately noticed Kirito’s point.
“They follow orders. We can send them into dangerous areas to scout for us or to see if there’s any traps anywhere. We could be saving a lot of lives in dungeon exploration or other areas like that. We might even be able to use the more powerful Inves to fight off monsters and protect other players while in fights with large numbers or with powerful monsters like Bosses.”
“Holy…” Agil gaped. He could see the implications and just how the Lockseeds could actually save people from risking themselves in dungeons or in high risk areas that could otherwise kill the unwary or unprepared. It would allow mapping out the Dungeons to be exponentially faster and easier! “Are there more of these Lockseeds in Helheim?”
“They grow all over the place, but the Inves gulp them down like candy,” Kirito sighed. “They’ll ignore you but if you have Mature Lockseeds like these they’ll go after you. If they eat one, they mutate and get stronger. Worse yet, Sword Skills aren’t as effective on them.”
“They aren't?” Agil frowned. “If this guy is trying to help us then why make so many hazards?”
“According to the message he made, he was making the Inves and the items for another game but when he saw what SAO was going to do he adapted it so that we could get something that is outside of the game’s parameters,” Kirito shook his head. “If he’s telling the truth anyway.”
“Right,” Agil nodded, crossing his arms and ignoring the Inves Warrior that seemed to curl up to have a nap. “This is a bombshell we’re sitting on kid. These Lockseed things alone are going to help a whole lot of people get through this game. Heck, it may even help calm the panicking ones down, like having a pet or something.” His eyes then turned hard. “But if these things can get Inves into AREA then there are going to be some people who want to take advantage of that.”
“I know, but we can’t ignore how much good this could do,” Kirito sighed.
“No, we can’t,” Agil shook his head. “Were there any other item drops in Helheim Forest?”
“Well…” Kirito began, looking reluctant. “There’s a...SengokuDriver.”
“A what?” asked Agil.
Kirito sighed, “Did you ever watch Kamen Rider during your life?” Seeing Agil nod, he continued. “Well, this is just like that. It’s a belt and I can put Lockseeds in it to give me different sets of armor and weapons. Although normal weapons aren’t effective on Inves, the ones made by the suit are.”
Now Agil had to blink again, “Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Kirito nodded, “It’s crazy. The suit is so empowering, it lets me easily match players if they were on the second or third floors. I mean, I was that strong! The only downside was that I only get a fraction of the experience I would normally get in a fight.”
“Well, kind of an even trade off,” Agil nodded. “Still, we’re going to need to make a demonstration of this but if we do people are going to want to get some of these Lockseed things. You know what that’s going to mean.”
“Yeah, we need to go back,” Kirito frowned. “Okay, but pack good weapons and be ready for an endurance run. It will take a while to even beat one Inves without a suit.” He then lifted the Himawari Lockseed and snapped it shut, prompting the little Inves to wake up and leap back into the zipper hole it used to enter Agil’s shop in the first place.
(LINE BREAK)
Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital - November 13th 4:50 PM
The silent sound of heart monitors filled the room, indicating signs of life even if the body they were attached to didn’t. Like the rest of the ward, it was silent save for the mechanical beeping noise that seemed to echo everywhere. At one point, the sound of a heart going silent with a long beeping noise sounded off but no one panicked. Only a few orderlies moved to remove the body and contact the relatives.
Inside one room, a young woman sat on a chair, holding the hand of a young man who was on the bed with a NerveGear on his head. She had a pageboy-styled cut which was deep black and her eyes were deep brown. She was slightly younger than the boy in the bed and had an athletic frame. She just continued to stare at the boy, her eyes watery as she silently pleaded for the young man to wake up and talk to her again.
Her name was Kirigaya Suguha and the boy on the bed was her brother Kirigata Kazuto.
Since the news came out what happened to the players of Sword Art Online, Suguha was frantic to try and do something to help her brother. She all but demanded they just rip that awful machine off of his head so they could save him. Her parents then told her that any attempt to disassemble or remove the machine would cause it to activate its trap and kill her brother. So he was trapped in the game until someone beat it. For a while, Suguha was inconsolable. Despite the unwanted distance between herself and her brother, she still loved him very much and didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Suguha and her brother used to be rather close and she really adored him while they were growing up. They both trained in kendo under her grandfather who was a retired policeman and a kendo national champion. Both of them excelled at the sport but Suguha knew that her grandfather was banking on Kazuto taking over the legacy. He seemed to have the drive and the talent for it and Suguha was actually looking forward to seeing him on the national stage with an award or something.
Then one day, it all just seemed to change.
Kazuto lost interest in kendo and got more into computers like their mom, eventually abandoning kendo altogether. Their grandfather hadn’t been pleased with that decision at all. Several attempts had been made to get his interest back in the sport, but Kazuto just pulled away more into his world of computers and online games. Suguha never saw the appeal of such games, seeing them as excuses to ignore reality and lie about who a person was. She really tried to get Kazuto back into the real world where in her mind all the interesting things were but he just continued to shy away and avoid contact with people outside of a computer screen. By the time that awful Sword Art Online game came around, she felt like Kirito and she were strangers in their own house despite having known each other for years. Although she put on a pleasant face, she hated it. She wanted her big brother back.
Now it seemed she was on the brink of losing him in an even worse way.
She’d been keeping up with news about the game and the company that made it, hoping that somebody would find the creator and make him shut the thing down and let everyone go. The only clues they had was a letter he wrote explaining how the players could get themselves out on their own. Computer experts were working around the clock to try and find some way to get the players out but from what she could understand, they didn’t want to try anything radical less they trigger something that could kill everyone. Even if they were willing to try, the psycho had created firewalls which were ahead of the times and even the experts were scratching their heads wondering what they should do.
She did hear about one news story which defended one of the employees of Argus. Although public opinion was ready to hang the assistants and programmers who helped Akihiko create his game, citing that for all their intelligence they should have been able to tell that the man was up to something but let the fat paychecks they made blind them. The story went that one of the programmers managed to piece together what Akihiko was planning and tried to stop it, but his computer skills weren’t enough to do anything to delete the Death Game Program. Instead, he added elements to the game which weren’t part of SAO and hopefully would be enough to overpower a lot of the hazards and bosses in the game in the hands of an experienced gamer. People weren’t sure if it wasn’t just a lie or not, but Suguha wanted to believe it, anything to improve her brother’s chances of coming back alive.
(LINE BREAK)
Aincrad - Forest of Beginnings November 14th 10:20 AM
It took a day to get prepared, but Kirito and Agil headed back out into the Forest of Beginnings where the portal to Helheim Forest was located. With Kirito’s warnings about wild Inves, Agil donned some slightly thicker armor for protection and hefted a Heavy Axe over his shoulder for some better penetrating power. If the Inves took only a fraction of the damage normal monsters would from SAO weapons then he was going to have to hit hard and deal as much as he could.
“It should be around here,” Kirito spoke up, looking around the thick vegetation. “The portals are only in places where players who want to advance can find them.”
“So that way the equipment found there is actually put to use instead of being hoarded for money or personal protection?” asked Agil.
“From the sound of it, yeah,” Kirito nodded.
Now, Agil considered the fact that this whole trip might be a trap to lure him out and take everything he was worth. Desperate players were rumoured to do that now and then, promising an important quest and when they got a dupe, took them down and robbed them for everything they might have. He then promptly discarded the idea when he took a good look at Kirito. He’d seen plenty of shifty type come into his cafe. Sometimes guys who were sleazeballs, some who tried to hit on his wife thinking she’d want a ‘real Japanese man’ instead of a foreigner, and just all-around scumbags who thought that they were something cool. All of those guys had the same vibe around them: nothing but trouble. Kirito on the other hand didn’t even have a hint of a vibe like that. The kid was being perfectly honest about what he hoped the Lockseeds could help everyone do and wanted to spread the word. He wanted to save as many people as he could. That was why Agil trusted going alone with the kid.
“There it is,” Kirito spoke, snapping Agil out of his thoughts.
Easily looking over Kirito’s shoulder, he saw that the tall grass that they had been slugging through had emptied into a clearing and right there hanging in the air was a hole lined with a zipper. He blinked at the sight, “Well I’ll be damned.You weren't kidding.”
"And this is just the tip of the iceberg," Kirito told him. "Come on in."
The pair of them entered through the hole in the air, entering into Helheim forest in all its misty glory. The older man couldn’t help but gaze at everything, knowing he was in a terrain that was in essence illegal in Sword Art Online. Everything was in a haze and it was like it was perpetually cloudy on in the shade of something bigger. “So where are the Lockseed Trees?”
“You’re looking at them,” Kirito pointed at the trees around them, all of them sporting purple flowers in full bloom. “Just pluck them and after a few minutes of holding onto them they’ll turn into Lockseeds. If we get in a scrape, we can throw the flowers to distract the Inves. They love these things. It’s apparently all they’ll eat.”
“Wow,” Agil had to admire the sheer number of the flowers around him. There was likely enough for everyone in SAO to have at least one Lockseed for themselves. Reaching out to one particular tree, he plucked a flower off and looked it over. After a few moments, the flower flashed, turning into a Lockseed marked with an acorn. “That was quick.”
“Yeah. It makes using the flowers as bait or distractions limited to Helheim Forest,” Kirito nodded, plucking another flower which turned to a Matsubokkuri (Pinecone) Lockseed. “Well, shall we get picking before an Inves shows up?”
“Right,” Agil nodded, beginning to pluck more of the flowers from the trees.
“So are there any other kinds of Inves than those funny gray ones?” asked Agil, pulling off several Lockseed Flowers into his inventory. True to Kirito’s word, he didn’t have to hold onto them long before they transformed into Mature Lockseeds. Plenty of them turned to Walnut or Himawari Lockseeds while the Acorn and Matsubokkuri were slightly more rare. The hardest to find were the bright fruits like Melon, Orange, or Ichigo.
“Yes, likely stronger too but I never fought it,” Kirito answered.
“And your suit can use these to make armor and weapons,” commented Agil, looking at a Durian Lockseed he plucked. “Think that would work for all of the Lockseeds or just some of them?”
“Not sure,” Kirito shook his head. “I didn’t exactly have much time to try and experiment when I was here the last time.”
“Should do that sometime,” Agil suggested. “Each one of these Lockseeds might have a special weapon to use in a fight.”
"Gotta get used to the first one I got," Kirito replied.
"Hey according to what you were told there is more than one of those fancy belt buckles, right?" the merchant asked after several minutes of silent harvesting, “Think we could find those around here?”
“No, I got mine from an NPC. A girl in white,” Kirito answered. “She found me, not the other way around. I have no clue how to trigger her appearance. It might be worth a look when we’re done here.”
“Right,” Agil nodded. “Come on, let’s grab as many as we can carry. According to you, the wildlife isn’t all that friendly.”
“Believe me, it isn’t,” Kirito confirmed.
XXX
Unknown to the pair, they were being watched by a primitive pair of eyes. Kirito would have easily recognized the creature as an Inves Warrior Green. Like the other Inves, it was made to simply wander in Helheim Forest until a player got close. Until then, they would fulfill their instinctual purpose of eating Lockseeds and attempting to evolve until their next battle. It took notice Agil and Kirito harvesting the flowers. Seeing the situation is was born to react to, it began following a pre-built attack plan. Because it was by itself and on the ground, it decided to go on a stealthy plan of attack. Choice made, it immediately began to follow after the pair, walking slowly as it prepared for a battle.
(LINE BREAK)
Tugging off another Lockseed Flower, Agil watched the flower turn into Kurumi Lockseed. The novelty of watching the flowers mature hadn’t faded but the older man was definitely curious about what else the items could do. Outside Helheim, they could summon an Inves who would obey the person who called them. When opened with someone who had a SengokuDriver it would arm them with armor and a weapon based off the fruit on the seed. What really made Agil curious was what did a Lockseed was opened in the home of the Inves? Lifting up the item in question, he tapped the button and allowed the Lockseed to snap open.
(LINE BREAK)
The Inves Warrior suddenly stiffened when it heard that snapping noise. It meant food! The glorious food! The food of growing! All thoughts of jumping and fighting the two was forgotten as instead its attention was turned onto the food in the big enemy’s hand. All thoughts of subtlety was likewise forgotten as the back of the Inves Warrior shifted open like an insects shell, revealing a pair of insect wings. Buzzing loudly, the Inves soared towards the pair, it’s mouth salivating that the thought of devouring that delicious food.
(LINE BREAK)
Agil heard it before anything else. Looking up, he saw a blur of gray and green that smashed into him and pushed him onto his back while something landed on top of him, squirming about like an animal in panic. Grunting, he pushed heavily and managed to get the creature off of him. It landed in a heap, but it allowed Agil to see it and recognize it as an Inves Warrior of the green variety.
“Agil!” Kirito shouted, running over to his partner.
“I’m fine!” Agil grunted, hefting his axe. The blow only took a small portion of his HP out. It was definitely negligible. “Well, at least I can use this as a chance to see this so-called resistance to Sword Skills.”
Kirito frowned, but he also drew his sword. He remembered the last time he had taken on Invese Warriors, but he also reasoned that if it was only one they could work together on taking it down and get back to their harvesting. It might take a while, but at the same time it could show them both how much experience an Inves could give, making them a mob for either the lower level or higher level players.
The Inves Warrior grunted and stood up, but that was when the pair of players noticed that it had something clenched in its hands. Caught between its large nails was the Kurumi Lockseed which Agil had popped open a moment ago. Lifting it, the Inves greedily gulped the Lockseed down with a wet growl. The effect was immediate as vines seemed to slither out from behind the Inves and cover it in a cocoon-like shield. It didn’t last long before the vines dropped away again, but the Inves inside had changed dramatically.
It was still bipedal, but that was all that stayed the same. The bottom half was white, but the skin appeared as if it were made of stone of some sort. The chest was made of a jade-like stone with lines running over it like a Shiisa from a temple would. Its shoulder pads were large and styled the same and had four long jagged spikes running from its back. Its arms were white and wrapped with orange strips of cloth, but the right arm looked like a large feline claw while the other was more humanoid. Finally its head was made of the green stone with the artistic lines, but it looked like that of a tiger. The beast’s name was confirmed as the indicator appeared over its head, <Tiger Inves>.
“This is why you don’t let them eat Mature Lockseeds,” Kirito groaned, hefting his sword up for a <<Horizontal>>.
“Duly noted,” Agil agreed, lifting his axe for an <<Overhead>> attack.
The Tiger Ives snarled and charged at the pair, its claw arm raised for an attack. Agil and Kirito charged their sword skills, letting their weapons shine brightly. Once the Inves was close enough, both of them charged back at the beast. Kirito, being the faster, reached the monster first and unleashed his Sword Skill which tore a red pixel line across the beast’s abdomen. The successful strike managed to distract the monster for a moment which allowed Agil to land his own attack. The <<Overhead>> struck down on the Inves’ shoulder, making another long cut in the monster’s shoulder.
The Inves screeched and slashed wide, but Agil managed to lean back and avoid the blow. He got some space between himself and the Inves, looking to see how much damage he and Kirito had managed to do to the monster. Even with resistance, those two blows had to have dealt close to thirty or forty percent of its HP…
...27%
“That’s it?!” Agil gasped.
“Tsk!” Kirito hissed. The resistance to Sword Skills was even stronger on the evolved Inves than it was on the Inves Warriors!
The Tiger Inves bellowed a second time and charged at Agil a second time and slashed at him. The taller man lifted his axe in an effort to defend and the weapon took the blow. The force knocked Agil back, and the durability points of his weapon dropped like a rock. Another swing of the weapon shattered the axe and left it as blue pixels in the air. Having disarmed Agil, the Tiger Inves smashed him a third time sent the large man crashing into the tree, shaking loose several Lockseed Flowers. Groaning, Agil noted that he had lost a quarter of his HP from that hit alone. If he had taken anymore hits like that, he would’ve been a goner.
His vision filled with a notice from his inventory, stating that because of the Tiger Inves’ attack he had dropped several Lockseeds. Several blue lights flashed around him as several Lockseeds he had picked appeared around him. Some were even open, making it imperative that they be reclaimed before another Inves picked them up and ate them.
“Agil-san!” Kirito cried. He then watched as the Tiger Inves picked up one of the Mature Lockseeds Agil had dropped, the small fruit/machine looking more ominous than ever before. Realizing what this meant based on past experience, Kirito decided to go into action. He took out his Sengoku Driver and strapped it on before bringing out the Orange Lockseed. The Tiger Inves opened its mouth to ingest the Mature Lockseed just as Kirito opened his own.
“ORANGE!”
Like before, the Orange Arms appeared over Kirito in a flash of light, hovering in the air. He then swiftly inserted the Lockseed into the Sengoku Driver’s slot before locking it in.
“LOCK ON!”
“Henshin!” Kirito shouted as he pushed down the knife-like lever, slicing open the Lock Seed.
“SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!”
The Orange Arms dropped on Kirito’s head, generating his bodysuit. The sphere then reconfigured, forming Kirito’s armor.
The Tiger Inves roared as it grew to gigantic size and Agil’s eyes widened. The beast was large and bipedal with two large claws instead of just one, covered in jade green armor with several jagged spires rising from its back. The Tiger Inves then went for the kill when all of a sudden a gunshot was heard. The Tiger Invase was hit in the side and turned its head to face who had dared to fire on it.
There was Kamen Rider Gaim with the Musou Saber aimed at it.
“Agil, get up and run!” Gaim shouted.
“Ki...Kirito?” Agil gaped. Kirito had described the armor but this was the first time Agil had seen it activated. Gaim was also holding the Daidamaru, which to Agil resembled an orange slice but at the same time he was holding his Musou Saber, showing a Dual Wielding skill that was impossible to do in SAO.
The Tiger Inves snarled and charged for Gaim, swiping at him several times. Gaim was forced to dodge and roll several times. Reloading the Musou Saber, he fired off several rounds which exploded against the Inves’ head and made it screech even louder. Bellowing, its claws lit up and it slashed, cutting strought through the tree Gaim was trying to hide behind, striking the Rider and sending him crashing to the ground. In front of him, the tree crashed to the ground, spilling Lockseed Flowers in all directions.
“Guh!” Gaim grunted, noting his HP dropping by a good 20%. Considering how big the monster was, he was lucky the blow hadn’t taken out more of him. The tree it cut probably absorbed a good portion of the blow. Seeing the Inves leaping closer, Gaim fired several shots into its face, causing it to misjudge the jump and crash to the dirt.
Panting, he glanced at the Inves’ HP. After eating that Lockseed, it had recovered what missing HP it had and apparently its toughness increased. His bullets were lucky to do 5% damage at a time. He was going to need some kind of better attack if he was going to win the fight. Holding the ends of his weapons, he attached his two weapons together with a snap. He just hoped that by combining his weapons, he would increase the damage it would do.
“Here goes!” Gaim called, lunging for the Inves again, this time cutting long strikes across the monster’s body. Several glowing red lines were visible across the monster’s hide, but they weren’t as deep or as easy to make as Gaim had hoped. It did cause some noticeable damage, but not as much or as fast as the Kamen Rider needed to make it an even fight.
In retaliation, the Tiger Inves roared and slashed wide, catching Gaim directly across the chest and sending him crashing into the dirt after a short trip through the air. Hitting the ground, he groaned as he lost 40% of his HP from the savage blow. It made the Rider reflect on the Field Boss battles he fought in the Beta Test.
Agil witnessed as Gaim was having trouble. His weapons just weren’t dealing the kind of damage he needed to win, even if the armor itself boosted him to several levels higher than the norm. He then recalled that Kirito told him the Lockseed could generate armor and different weapons when used with the SengokuDriver. With that in mind, he quickly opened his inventory and scrolled through the Lockseeds he had collected. Picking up a promising looking Lockseed, he materialized it into his hand before running to where Gaim was recovering from the blow.
“Kirito, take this!” Agil hurled the Lockseed and Gaim caught it. Standing up, he noticed that it was a Pineapple Lockseed.
“OK!” Gaim understood immediately, standing up. He just hoped that whatever weapon the new Lockseed would give him, it would be something that could help him take on the Inves. With a prayer, he removed the Orange Lockseed.
“LOCK OFF!”
He then clicked open the Pineapple Lockseed
“PINE!”
The Orange Arms disappeared in orange sparkles as a giant, metal pineapple now floated in the air above Gaim. He then attached the Pineapple Lockseed to his SengokuDriver and locked it in.
“LOCK ON!”
And the final touch; he cut it open with the belt’s knife-like lever. The inside top half looked like the inside of a pineapple while the bottom half held a morning star shaped like a pineapple. The Pine Arms then dropped on his head and configured itself to form his new armor.
“SOIYA! PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!”
The pineapple lowered down and covered Gaim’s head before snapping apart. The front folded together to form a chest plate with black sides and square metal studs which were pointed and thick. The sides folded over his shoulders, becoming long and thick armor which covered his arms down to his wrists. The back section likewise folded down into thick protective studded steel. Gaim’s helmet even changed, the helmet section being samurai-style with thick yellow square studs with green decoration near the crown. The visor had also changed color, turning yellow and looking like a pineapple slice. Gripped in his hand was a black handle which was connected to a morning star-like head which was shaped like a pineapple, made from heavy and spiked steel.
<<You have received Pine Arms armor!>>
<<You have received Pine Iron!>>
Gaim studied his new weapon and spun the chain around to get a feel for it. “Not a sword. This is going to take some getting used to.”
The Tiger Inves bellowed, unimpressed, and charged for Gaim once again. The Kamen Rider tensed and began swinging his new weapon wide. He had no experience with the weapon, but while wearing his armor there was an assist system to help him out. He swung wide and smashed the Pine Iron into the Inves’ face, causing the monster’s hide to crack before it collapsed into the dirt with a shower of soil. Even more shocking, the attack had managed to do 11% damage with a status change to STUN because of where the attack had struck.
“Woah,” Gaim gasped, shocked that he managed to do so much with one strike.
“Holy cow!” Agil gaped.
The Tiger Inves growled and managed to shrug off its stunned status before charging at Gaim once again. It slashed wide at Gaim, forcing the Kamen Rider onto the defensive. Its claws sparking against the studded armor, but it did significantly less damage than it did before to Gaim’s Orange Arms.
Seeing where the two weapons could connect, Gaim joined the Musou Saber with the Pine Iron and then launched himself at the Inves. He smashed the Pine Iron at the monster’s head before swinging to slash it across the face with his Musou Saber. Landing on the ground, he threw the Musou Saber, wrapping it around the monster’s leg before pulling sharply. The armor boosted his strength enough to trip up the monster and put it in the dirt again. Another tug brought the sword back before Gaim unleashed a powerful combo of swings, one of which broke a pair of spikes on its back, bringing out bleeding damage, slowly draining the monsters HP.
Gaim watched the monster’s HP drop down to its last 30% from his combo attack. He still had one more push to beat the thing, but from the way its eyes were flashing its looked like it was getting ready to really go wild on him. Still, it did present an opportunity for him to unleash a <<Hissatsu>> which could deal a huge amount of damage if it landed.
“No harm in trying!” Gaim huffed, pressing down on his belt’s sword handle, causing the fruit section of his Lockseed to begin glowing.
“SOIYA! PINE SQUASH!”
Gaim leaped into the air and once he was high enough, he dropped the Pine Iron and kicked it hard, causing a flash of yellow energy as it shot down, actually growing in size. The weapon struck perfectly, actually getting stuck on the Inves’ head and forcing it to begin clutching at the weapon to try and free itself. Gaim’s body was then pushed by an invisible force, extending his foot into a flying kick which sparked with more yellow power. The Tiger Inves was wide open before Gaim smashed straight into its torso, leaving a perfectly round hole through its body. Gaim skidded across the ground before coming to a stop. The Inves behind him bellow as yellow power collected to make one big pineapple slice before the Inves collapsed and exploded. The Pine Iron likewise went up, throwing energy pineapple slices in all directions.
“Yosha!” Gaim cheered as he stood up and closed the Pineapple Lockseed. This caused his armor to vanish before he unlocked it from his belt. “So, it’s not just one Lockseed I can use. I can use others.”
“I guess I can let you have that, free of charge,” Agil joked.
“Yeah, but I think we should leave before more of the local wildlife show up,” suggested Kirito.
“I agree. We’ve gathered enough for one trip,” said Agil. “Now I need to figure out how to price them.”
“Let’s talk when we’re in a safer area,” Kirito replied. “That way we can properly count what we’ve got.” Kirito tugged on a few more Lockseed Flowers and watched as they matured. “OK, let’s go.”
(LINE BREAK)
Aincrad - Starter City November 14th 3:30 PM
It took hours to get back to Starter City, especially with Agil having no extra weapons on him after the Tiger Inves destroyed it. Still, they managed it and returned to Agil’s shop in order to take stock of how many Lockseeds they managed to collect. The models ranged from things like seeds and nuts all the way up to exotic fruits. They hadn’t tested any of the Lockseeds, either to see what Inves they called or what kind of weapons that they would call for the Gaim Armor. Both players were exhausted and they just wanted to get some rest after their adventure.
“So how are we going to reveal this?” asked Kirito, looking over their haul.
“We need to get the word out fast,” Agil frowned, crossing his arms. “The quicker people know about these the quicker people can use them to help their milling and exploration without getting killed. At the same time, we have to make sure people can’t get themselves killed by accident with these things.”
“So long as they hold onto the Lockseeds, I think they’ll be okay,” Kirito scratched his head. “At least, it seemed that way when I tested it out.”
“Okay,” Agil agreed. “So you know anyone who can spread a lot of information?”
Kirito pondered for a moment. He was pretty sure that he did know someone that could spread information about the Lockseeds. The only the problem was that he wasn’t sure if she had even signed on to SAO after the Beta Test and if she did, she would be keeping her head down to avoid being lynched by some of the vengeful players who blamed the Beta Testers as much as they did Akihiko.
“Ever hear of a player called Argo the Rat?” asked Kirito finally.
“Who?” Agil blinked.
“She’s...an information broker,” Kirito explained, trying to pick his words careful. “She’ll dig up any information you want and get it to you, or spread information like announcements and such. She doesn’t do it for free though. She knows all the ways to get word out in SAO though and she knows a lot of the little details about the game that players will happily pay for.”
“Does she?” asked Agil, curious. “How’s she know all this?” He watched as Kirito wilted slightly and looked rather uncomfortable. To Agil, it was as clear as day why this Argo knew as much about the game as she did, “Ah, so she’s a Beta Tester huh? Same as you?”
“Uh!” Kirito gasped.
“Relax, I’m not one of those guys who blame the Beta Testers for everything,” Agil waved off Kirito’s growing shock. “I figured it out since you were way too comfortable in this game, even when you were fighting in Helheim. I’ve been here as long as I have and some of the mechanics still trip me up. You didn’t hesitate at all. I figure Argo must be a Beta tester too since she’d know so much about the game.”
“Yeah, she is,” said Kirito, not bothering to try and hide the truth anymore.
“Do you know how to get into contact with her?” asked Agil.
“She gave me her contact information awhile back,” Kirito replied. “I’ll call her over and we can discuss and negotiate a business deal with her.”
XXX
Kirito knew Argo from the Beta Test, having met her as she delved into just about everything she could learn about the game and grilled players who completed quests before she could. Her goal wasn’t to just play SAO, but become a huge broker of information and quests so she could be the economic power of the game along with learning where all the good stuff was. Knowing that, he knew she wouldn’t be able to resist a cash cow like this.
Once he gave her the message that he was in possession of some ‘premium merchandise’, she practically ran like the wind in order to see it for herself. She stormed into Agil’s shop, apparently already knowing where it was without having Kirito needing to tell her. She almost kicked the door down, panting from her efforts.
Argo was a little on the short side and wore a long black cloak which hid a lot of her body features. Still, it wasn’t enough to hide the claws and throwing knives stored on her belt. Her face was revealed, showing she had chin length and slightly curly auburn hair and brown eyes. The weirdest thing about her appearance was the whisker marks doodled on her face, likely part of where her nickname came from.
“Show me the goods Kiri-bo!” she huffed.
“Nice to see you too Argo,” Kirito sighed.
“We can go over pleasantries afterwards,’ Argo waved off the sarcasm. “Now show me!”
So Kirito and Agil showed Argo the collection of Lockseeds they obtained. They explained everything that they knew about them from Helheim Forest, to the Inves, to what applications the Inves could be used for. They didn’t skip out on anything that they learned or suspected the Lockseeds were capable of. Argo listened patiently, at first unbelieving that the items came from outside SAO but after watching a Red Inves Warrior toddle around the shop at Agil’s command made her think otherwise. Soon enough, she was see Col in her immediate future, as well as a huge section of her Field Guide being written up in her mind.
“Okay Kiri-bo, you’ve convinced me. I’ll spread the word, but in exchange I want one of those fancy looking Lockseeds as payment,” Argo demanded.
“I thought you took Col as payment,” Kirito remarked.
“Well, I’d need one to demonstrate as an example if I want people to be sold on the idea,” Argo shrugged. “Plus, it helps that I have a bodyguard I can call anytime.”
Kirito nodded, seeing her logic. Being an Information Broker, Argo didn’t have many people who trusted her. Many were of the opinion that she would sell her own grandmother for some Col. Being naturally sneaky and admittedly having a business drive for profit didn’t help that reputation. However, plenty of players felt she knew who the Beta Testers were and tried to buy the information from her, which she refused. She did know who the Beta Testers were, but she wasn’t going to sell people information they were going to use to directly harm the other players. It made her a few enemies, people who accused her of supporting the Beta Testers or being one herself. More than once, some players figured they could get around her prices by forcing her to release the information via beatings. A bodyguard was just what she needed.
Argo scanned the Lockseeds on the table and picked one at random. It resembled a strawberry.
“I’ll take this one,” she stated, having a love for strawberries. “I think it’s just fair since I’ll be risking my neck carrying this info for you, Kiri-bo.”
“I know you avoid public spectacles, but this is too important to let the normal rumor mill spread,” Kirito sighed.
“True, true,” Argo agreed. “The ability to summon special pets to fight alongside or for you, and even explore dangerous areas and clear traps. The Clearers are going to be gobbling these things up as much as the Inves do.” She may be a cutthroat businesswoman but she drew the line at death. “I’ll start writing up some guides with my minions and plan some demonstrations.”
“Glad for your help,” Kirito nodded.
“You should be,” Argo grinned. “Just be ready to hand me more of these Lockseeds if I need them. I may end up being a travelling salesman for this.”
“I think you should call yourself a Lock Dealer instead,” grinned Kirito.
“Hm, Argo the Lock Dealer...” Argo mused. “Sounds better than Argo the Rat. Then I guess that makes you two my Suppliers considering only you two can find this Helheim Forest and fight off the Inves with this Gaim stuff you two keep talking about.”
“Well, according to the info I got, the portals will randomly manifest in each of the 100 floors,” Kirito said. “The Clearers will have an easier time finding them since they’ll be in areas players will likely go through if they want to get to the next floor.”
“Like the Forest of Beginnings where the stronger mobs are found with a little bit of exploration,” Argo nodded. “So there are probably more portals at the lake, the ruins, and around the dungeon if we’re lucky.”
“I marked the one we used on my map,” Agil mentioned. “We’ll probably have to go explore those other areas for portals to see if there are any differences in the sections of Helheim they take us too.”
“I just wonder how long until the use of Lockseeds will spread all over SAO,” Kirito wondered.
“If we present them right, not long,” Agil replied. “Not with everyone looking for anything they can use to protect themselves from what’s out there.”
“We can only hope,” Argo nodded.
(LINE BREAK)
Tobei Tachibana’s Apartment - 4:25 PM
Tobei grunted as he looked down at the floor, covered in broken glass and one rock hurled by someone from outside. Likely it was someone who had a relative trapped in SAO. By his best guess it was a brother, sister, or cousin. If it had been an adult or a parent, likely guns would have been involved, to hell with Japan’s strict gun control laws. So with a heavy heart, he began to dust up the glass and begin trying to figure out how he was going to get it fixed. The superintendent of the building stopped accepting his calls and he doubted any repair service would willingly go to his aid if they knew who he was. After his name was outed on the news in relation to SAO, everyone knew who he was. Since then, someone spraypainted KILLER on his car, slashed the tires, and threw a rock through his window. It really began making him consider forgoing his lawyer’s advice and talk to at least one news service so he could get his side of the story across.
Tossing the last of the glass into the trash, he put up slabs of cardboard to cover the hole and duct tape to keep it shut. As he did so, his computer gave off a tone again. Concerned, he quickly moved to the keyboard and looked at the alert. He looked concerned at first, but then some relief it him.
“Ryugen, Baron, and Zangetsu so soon? Those guys may just stand a chance,” he smiled.
(LINE BREAK)
Aincrad - Great Canyon November 14 12:07 PM
Tsuboi Ryotaro, otherwise known as Klein in SAO was a nerd. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He knew it, his friends knew it, and they all accepted it. So as nerds they tended to go out and have fun they only way they knew how when they weren’t busy with their white-collar jobs and couldn’t get the courage up to try for a date. They played online games and kicked each others’ asses in it, or kicked the asses of a whole lot of other people from all over Japan, if not the world. So when Sword Art Online came about, they stayed in line overnight in the street in front of their local outlet just so they could get a copy of it.
It seemed like such a great plan in hindsight. With their NerveGear, Klein and his friends all had plans to go on real adventures like they would imagine in their tabletop games and computer exploits. Instead, it all turned into one big scary deathmatch which could end up killing them if they weren’t careful.
After Kayaba Akihiko made his tutorial, Klein had managed to gather up his friends and form a their initially planned party. As it stood, there was safety in numbers. “United we stand, divided we fall” as it were. Kirito’s tips had been a great help and he and his pals had been working hard, grinding their levels so they could survive this crazy situation they had gotten themselves in. Survival was phase one of their overall goals. Their second goal was getting through all one hundred levels and get out of Sword Art Online with as many people as they could possibly save. Call them hero wannabes in a certain light, but they were one of the few dedicated groups who aimed to clear Sword Art Online as soon as they could.
But right now, survival was paramount.
“Run, run, run, runrunrun!” Klein screamed as he and his friends ran like their lives depended on it. In truth, their lives really did depend on how fast they could run.
In a way, it looked rather surreal. Since the <<Mirror>> revealed their true forms, neither Klein nor his friends looked like the dashing heroic types they wanted to when they first logged into SAO. Instead, they all looked like they did in real life, twenty-something year old men who worked in a cubicle all day and didn’t see the sun very often. All of them were dressed in red armor of various quality, showing they at least had some idea of how to tell good items from poor ones. Klein was the only one who really stood out, having spiky red hair and the colourful bandana tied around his head with a goatee. Of course, the additional humor stemmed from how they all looked like they were ready to wet their pants.
Klein and his friends had been grinding as much as they could, but things had gotten crowded around Starter City with so many different groups trying to get stronger at the same time. So after some brainstorming, Klein and his friends Harry One, Dynamm, Kunimittz, Issn, and Dale all headed out for greener pastures so they could get better mobs to themselves. They took a lot of lumps and had a close call or two, but they levelled up fast against such experienced mobs. So when the mobs near the Forest of Beginnings began to be less and less fruitful, they headed out to the Canyonlands. While exploring, they found the Great Canyon and decided to search it for any hidden goodies.
What they got was far worse: A Field Boss.
Field Bosses were Boss-level monsters who existed outside of the dungeon. They were usually found in certain quests or appeared when triggered by something. They sometimes appeared in special battle zones which players could avoid if they wished, but other times a player could accidentally stumble onto them if they didn’t know they were there. They could be scary and they were strong, but a suitably prepared group of players would be able to take one down if they played it smart.
Klein and his friends were certainly not prepared for <<The Sand Wyrm>>. It was a large worm-like monster which tunneled through the sandy ground like water and was covered in deep brown exoskeleton with a circular mouth filled with black teeth. It also sported four health bars, making it significantly harder to bring it down. Again, a properly prepared group could do that but Klein and company were not that group at the moment. All of their weapons were still rather basic and didn’t have the piercing power that they needed to bring down the Wyrm. In other words, they had to get away or end up dead. So they did what people who had common sense would do, they ran for their lives.
The Field Boss proved to be one of the pursuing types and gave chase after the hapless group. It served to make Dale scream in a rather high-pitched manner. The group only picked up the pace, hoping to try and get away from the beast before it managed to get close enough for an attack. Fortunately, the canyon twisted a fair bit which slowed the Wyrm down. However, it couldn’t keep curving forever before reaching a dead end somewhere or ending up in an open field where it could catch up with them.
“Klein! Klein! A cave!” Issn shouted, pointing to to a semi-concealed cavern which was much too small for the Wyrm to follow them into.
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Klein shouted as he and his friends turned and darted for the cavern that offered them sanctuary. They didn’t care if there were more monsters inside, they just needed to get away from the Field Boss before it killed all of them. The group managed to run inside of the cave, leaving the Wyrm to thrash about in fury outside.
The group of gamer nerds didn’t stop running though. They hoped that an exit into the outside world away from the Field Boss could be found and they didn’t want to stop until they found anything which could help them escape. After a moment of running, the dark sandstone walls quite suddenly gave way to misty forest. The sudden change in scenery wasn’t lost on Klein or his friends as they skidded to a halt, crashing into one another and falling into a heap.
“Ow!” “Oof!” “Kunimittz, you’re crushing us!” “Who’s jabbing me with their sword?” “JUST GET OFF ME!”
The nerds pulled themselves off of the ground. Around them were tall trees filled with purple flowers and growing from the ground were strange plants which twisted and curled in weird colours. Behind them, weird as it sounded, was a zipper that opened in the air and on the other side of the ‘fly’ was the cave that Klein and his friends had been running through in blind panic. All of them couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment, unable to look away from the absurdity of it all. Still, reality set in and they began taking stock of their surroundings.
“Wh-where are we?” asked Dale, looking at the strange forest.
“Dunno,” Klein frowned, cautious. He drew his sword, just in case there were denizens in the place who weren’t friendly. “Might be a secret area of some kind. Stay alert though. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
The group slowly began to travel through the forests, trying not to make themselves too obvious but that was hard in a group of six guys all wearing armor and wielding weapons. Passing by one of the blooming trees, Klein reached out and took hold of one of the flowers. It felt heavy in his hands, like a fruit which hadn’t ripened yet. Always happy for some foodstuff, Klein tugged off the flower and allowed his inventory to alert him to the collection.
“You find something Klein?” asked Harry One.
“Monster bait from the looks of it,” Klein replied, reading the inventory description. “Says these flowers are food for things called Inves. We might be able to use these things to distract ‘em if we have to.”
“Inves?” asked Dynamm. “Are those the mobs here? I never heard of them.”
“Me neither, but SAO does have a lot of new stu-WOAH!” Klein yelped when the flower he was holding suddenly transformed into a metal lock decorated with a set of bananas on the front. “What the-?!”
“Holy cow! What happened to it?” asked Kunimittz.
“Hold on,” Klein gulped, getting a new explanation window. “Huh...says here if we can get a SengokuDriver, these Lockseeds will give us weapons and armour. Cool! These things can also summon Inves for us outside of Helheim Forest. I guess that’s where we are.”
“Summon Inves?” asked Dale. “What is this, Pokemon?”
“Hey, if it can help us survive this game I’m all for it,” Issn shrugged. Reaching to another tree, he plucked a Lockseed Flower which soon matured into a Kiwi Lockseed. “Now how do you get these things to work?” Fiddling with it, he found a button on the side. Tapping it, the Lockseed opened with an ominous click.
Immediately, growls began echoing through the area and forced the group of nerds into a defensive circle. Issn dropped his Kiwi Lockseed to join the circle, for any kind of movement. From the bushes, several creatures covered in gray carapace emerged with rumbles and growls. Not all of them looked alike, being coloured red, green, or blue when the men got a good look at them. Still, it was a group of five that were slowly entering the area and looking none too friendly to them. Each of them were immediately revealed as Invese Warrior and then were classified as green, red, or blue depending on their armor.
“Well, better than a Field Boss,” Dynamm shrugged, readying himself for a fight.
“Yeah,” Klein tensed.
The Inves Warriors all snarled and lunged, but to the surprise of the six men the Inves never made a move towards them. Instead, they all lunged for the Kiwi Lockseed which Issn had dropped. A Inves Warrior Blue managed to reach the Lockseed first, devouring it as the other Inves Warriors tried to get around the feasting one. Once the Lockseed was completely consumed, the Inves Warrior was encircled in vines before emerging as a completely new monster.
The new monster had a bronze-like body covered in blue veins with curved bronze shoulderpads. Emerging from its back were two fire-like extensions which began blue and turned orange near the tips. The face was covered with flat bronze metal with blue lines acting almost like eyeholes. emerging from the top of its head were more flame-like horns which extended rather high. The indicator above the monster likewise changed, renaming it a <<Deer Inves>>
“Holy crap!” Harry One gasped.
“You mean they get stronger by eating Lockseeds? No fair man!” Dale whined.
“Deal with it!” Klein snapped, lifting his sword again.
The remaining four Inves Warriors backed away from the newly born Deer Inves. The beast growled and turned to the group of six, sniffing the air. It seemed to hone in on Klein who tensed at the beast’s laser-like gaze.
“Uh, Klein?” asked Issn. “I think that thing can smell the Lockseed you have on you!”
“Ah damn!” Klein groaned.
The Deer Inves roared and charged at the group of six with the intent of claiming the Lockseed that their leader had on his person. The six men charged up their Sword Skills and with a unifying yell, they charged back at the monster threatening them. Klein, as the fastes out of all his friends managed to strike first, cutting the Inves along the abdomen and staggering it slightly. That allowed Dale, Issn, Harry One, Dynamm, and Kunimittz to use that opening to strike the Inves over and over again in a six-point strike. It was something of a signature attack that the six had cooked up to help compensate for their low levels, aiming to help them take on the Boss when the time came to raid the Dungeon.
“Ha! Got you!” Klein grinned as he turned around, expecting to see the floating pixels of the Inves’ death. Instead, he got the sight of the creature turning around and racing at the group. It hit them hard, bashing Dynamm across the face before running past the rest of them, unleashing bashes as he went. All sixe men went down, clutching areas of their bodies which glowed red to indicate injury. Their HP meters dropped some 8-11% from the blows depending where they got hit. Klein looked up from a blow that got him in the shoulder, seeing that the Inves’ HP had only dropped 25%.
“Wh-what?” Klein grunted as he and his friends began to stand up again, “We did all that and it only did that much damage?”
“This has got to be a bug in the game or something!” Dynamm hissed.
“Maybe it has special resistance or something? We need a special weapon to beat it maybe?” asked Dale.
“Oh great! Then where are we supposed to find it?” asked Kunimittz.
“Here it comes again!” shouted Harry One.
For the next few minutes, Klein and his band attempted valiantly to destroy the Inves. However, every Sword Skill they unleashed just seemed to be watered down when it struck, doing only a fraction of the damage it was supposed to. The Deer Inves had no such restriction and was able to strike the men several times for not so inconsiderable damage. Even worse, when the group got the creature to half HP, it leaped over the group and began devouring Lockseed Flowers, instantly regaining its health. It revealed the method of battling the enemy at least, forcing the group to keep on the monster lest it heal itself while they were busy catching their breath. In theory such a foe shouldn’t have been too bad and make for good experience, but with how their Sword Skills were so watered down by the beast and how it was able to strike them so easily. Already they burned through several potions, making them concerned if they were truly able to win.
“This has got to be a Field Boss or something!” Dale grunted, holding the glowing wound on his side.
“I think we’d better run!” Issn suggested.
Klein grimaced as he turned to look at his friends. While he did want to advance and get stronger, something that Helheim Forest would no doubt do, he wasn’t going to risk his friends’ lives for it. Also, he was afraid that if he left Helheim Forest, they wouldn’t be able to get back in and any opportunity for special items or weapons would be lost for good. One Lockseed did not count for a successful raid.
“If we have to-OOF!” Klein was cut off when the Inves leaped the distance between them and kicked him in the face, launching him a fair distance through the air before he crashed into the grass. He groaned in pain, noticing his HP bar drop substantially and turned orange. With a groan, he tried to get his senses back as he heard his friends shouting as the Inves attacked them once again.
“GUYS!” Klein yelled, struggling to stand. As he got up, he looked ahead to try and figure out how to best help his friends. As he got to his feet though, he was cut off by the form of a woman who walked around him from behind, planting her palm on his chest. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were two different colours. Dressed in white, she looked like an exotic princes and despite the situation Klein couldn’t help but begin blushing.
“A-ha...h-h-hello,” Klein stuttered. “Uh...I’m Klein. I’m t-twenty-two and currently a bachelor. Uh, maybe we could...”
“You have been chosen,” she said as she held out a black SengokuDriver to him. Klein blinked and took the item, a window opening to reveal what he had been given. He grinned, thinking he just scored points with a pretty girl, but looking up again he saw that the girl was gone. He looked about, but saw that she was nowhere to be seen, “Aw man! Don’t tell me I blew it again!”
“Use the Lockseed, seize your fate,” the woman’s voice rang out.
Klein frowned, looking back to his friends and then at the item. The description said he could use Lockseeds to generate weapons and a suit of armor. With nothing else, he brought the SengokuDriver to his waist which generated a belt to strap it on tight. On the side a red helmet with a gray visor appeared with rainbow eyepieces covered by strips of white metal. Decorating the section was a red background and white vine-like decorations. As he wore it, a trumpet-like call echoed from the belt. Incidentally, it caught the attention of the Deer Inves who began ignoring Klein’s friends and slowly began to walk towards him.
“Klein!” yelled Kunimittz. “Run!”
The red-armoured nerd wasn’t paying attention to his friends. Instead, Klein studied the Banana Lockseed and found a button on the side. He clicked on it. The black arch section opened and the fruit section began to glow.
“BANANA!”
This caused a giant banana to appear, hovering up in the air. Klein looked up, blinking at the odd appearance of the metal fruit. Still, he didn’t let it dissuade him as he continued trying to figure out how the machine worked.
“OK, I use it like this then?” Klein asked as he put the Lockseed into the SengokuDriver and locked it in.
“LOCK ON!”
“And then do this?” he said as he used the sword-like lever to ‘slice’ open the Lockseed. The top half appeared like a bunch of banana’s being split open while the bottom half held the image of some kind of spear or lance.
“COME ON! BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF SPEAR!”
The banana came down and landed squarely on Klein’s shoulders, concealing his head. From the contact, a new suit of armor formed over his body. The torso was covered in white quilted armor while the rest of his body was clad in a crimson bodysuit with silver armguards and legguards. Inside the banana, Klein’s head was covered in the same helmet which decorated his belt before a set of banana-like horns attached to a smooth silver helmet attached to it, turning the eyepieces bright yellow. The banana then let out a splash of pale yellow power before it began unfolding. Either side of the banana folded down to attach to his shoulders while the sides folded onto his chest and back, the chest pieces appearing like gold sections of pectorals and abs, lined with black.
“Woah!” Klein gasped, grasping at his helmet. “Wh-wh-what kind of armor-?!” In a flash, his hand was then occupied by a pale yellow spear with a black handle and the guard was golden and split into three parts like the peels of a banana. “Woah!”
“EHHHHH?!” Klein’s friends gaped at the sight of the new Klein.
“A….ba...bana...banana?” Harry One blinked.
“Go, Kamen Rider Baron!” the voice of the Mysterious Girl called out.
“K-Kamen Rider?” Klein, or rather Baron gasped in awe. His vision was then filled with alerts, letting him know what he had been given.
<<You have received Kamen Rider Baron armor!>>
<<You have received Banana Arms armor!>>
<<You have received Banaspear!>>
The Deer Inves snarled, no longer enchanted by the transformation and charged with a loud snarl. Baron yelped and ducked underneath the blow, slashing at the Inves’ side as he went. The attack dug deep into the monster’s hide and drained a portion of its HP, like what a regular attack would do to a regular monster. The Inves recovered and turned to charge again. Baron lifted his spear and blocked the charge, taking the opportunity to knee the monster in the chest before butting it in the face with the handle of his weapon. Pointing the Banaspear again, he pressed a button near the handle, allowing the spear to extend. He launched another thrust, stabbing the Inves in the chest and knocking it back, draining even more HP.
“Oh man!” Baron admired his weapon. “This rocks!”
The Deer Inves just became pissed off and charged for Baron once again, using what natural agility its animal base afforded it. Baron lifted his weapon again, beginning a dance of death against the monster, both sides striking against one another. Baron was able to dodge or block the strikes with his spear before retaliating with short thrusts or batting its body with his elbows, knees, or even the handle of his weapon.
Seeing his chance, Baron unleashed a devastating thrust into the Deer Inves’ chest, striking where the heart should have been. The Inves screeched in agony and stumbled backwards before collapsing onto the dirt. Dragging itself up, it took notice of a Lockseed Tree. Grunting feebly, it reached for one of the Lockseed Flowers to heal itself.
“Oh no you don’t!” Baron snapped, beginning to run for the Inves. He only got a few steps before a notice came into his vision about a <<Hissatsu>> attack which the system could assist him to do it. Reaching to his belt, he sliced into his Banana Lockseed once again.
“COME ON! BANANA SQUASH!”
Baron brought his spear back which began to glow with energy before he thrust forward with it. From the tip, a spear of yellow power shaped in the form of a banana’s tip extended forward. The attack struck the Inves in the back, piercing straight through and digging into the bark of the Lockseed Tree. The HP of the Deer Inves dropped like a rock into nothingness. The beast gave off one last cry before it exploded into blue pixels.
“Woo!” Baron cheered, raising his arms into the air in celebration. A victory screen appeared in front of him, denoting his spoils. He got a good amount of Col and even a Lockseed Flower, but the experience he got was abysmal. “Hey, what gives?!”
“Woo! Level up!” Harry One cheered, he Dale, and Issn glowing to indicate that they had levelled up from the fight. Baron jogged over to his friends and saw that the experience that they had received was at least three times as much as he had gotten.
“Oh come on!” Baron groaned. “That’s not fair!”
“You didn’t level up either?” asked Kunimittz.
“I only got a third of the experience you guys got!” Baron whined.
"Guess that armor gives you a boost in exchange for EXP. Balances things out,” Issn shrugged. “Looks pretty badass though. You totally kicked that thing’s ass.”
“I know, right?” Baron laughed, his earlier bad mood forgotten. “The chick I got this from said I’m Kamen Rider Baron now! This is like...a total dream come true for me! It’s all I ever wanted when I was a kid!”
A sniffle from the armored man caused the rest of the group to sweatdrop. Kunimittz finally hd to ask as he watched Baron wiping his face, “Uh...Klein? Are you crying?”
“I’m...I’m just so happy!”
“Well quit crying! I want a turn with it!” said Harry One.
Still sniffling, Baron closed the Banana Lockseed which caused his entire suit to vanish from his body save for the belt. Still crying, he lifted the Driver off of his waist and handed it over to his friend. Harry One eagerly took it and held it to his waist, but to his confusion not even the belt strap wrapped around him, “Huh? Is this thing broken?"
Klein took it back and examined the SengokuDriver before placing it on his waist. Instantly, the belt strap wrapped around his waist. "Works fine with me."
“Don’t tell me only Klein can use it!” Issn groaned. “Oh what a rip off!”
“Maybe there’s more of them somewhere?” suggested Dale.
“Then let’s look! We can pick more Lockseeds along the way! We’ve got a whole arsenal just waiting for us to use!” Klein called out, wiping his eyes dry. He could already imagine he and his friends being kickass Kamen Riders, even if their armor was based off fruits. It would be the most awesome thing ever! Childhood dreams really did come true!
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