The twins were kneeling in perfect seiza, the folds of their kimonos gracefully spread out on the polished wooden floor of the main house of their clan, and in front of them their father was also sitting comfortably in seiza, his sharp gaze upon his two daughters. He looked to all the world like a traditional patriarch, his short cropped hair and highly defined face bearing no resemblance to his own children with his nearly jet black kimono barely concealing the lithe powerful figure underneath, a sharp contrast to the lively colours and slim forms of the girls whom both had their heads bowed down slightly in deferential respect. The wooden sliding doors were opened, with sakura petals drifting into the room causing the scene to seem surreal… and hence the actions that would later arise from all the participating ‘actors’ would then also prove to be unexplainable.

The two girls were highly disciplined and did not fidget or waver under the scrutiny of their father however, the serene-like silence seemed to have been prolonged for an almost unbearable amount of time, to the extent that it was nearly an hour before finally, Mayumi, ever braver of the two, decided to speak out first.

"Chichiwei”, she asked respectfully, “we have answered your summons”.

 There was a long pause before a gravelly voice was heard in response, “That you both have. I have heard from your sword instructors that you are now capable of duelling and besting even adults now. Masumi on the other hand seems to be struggling…”

 “That is not true father”, Mayumi dangerously interrupted, “Masumi just find it difficult to understand the concepts of what the instructors are saying, she learns more by just doing it, father”

 “Nee-san, I can answer for myself”, Masumi pouted in annoyance.

 “Is this true, Masumi?”, her father asked as he focused his gaze solely upon her.

 Gingerly tweedling her thumbs, she replied, “Yes and no, chichiwei. When the honourable instructors speaks, it is as though the words fly over my head, but even when it comes to sword practice, it is still hard.”

“…I see…”

 “Masumi, don’t be so modest. You diligently practice your sword swings an hour early before anyone even rise awake.”

“Eh?”, Masumi blushed in embarrassment, “How do you know about that nee-san”

 “Fufu, I know everything about my sister”

There was a slight cough, and both girls immediately gave their undivided attention to their father who had rested his chin on his hand, deep in contemplation. Nodding to himself, he then settled his eyes on his daughters.

“It is time for me to appoint an heir”, the words leaving his mouth like a peal of the end.

“In that case chichiwei, Masumi would-“

 “You will be the next head of this house, Mayumi”, her father declared, like a final verdict given to a prisoner facing life imprisonment.

 The twins looked bewildered at their father, Mayumi opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish while Masumi just looked resigned and bowed her head in acquiescent .

 “You will officially be appointed the Head of the clan at the next family gathering where you will also defeat the other Head’s of the branch families to prove your worthiness”, he continued bluntly, “and once you have done so, I will be withdrawing you from school so that you may focus solely on swordsmanship.”

 Seeing only the stunned looks of his daughters and accepting it as acknowledgement of his will, he stood up to leave when he heard a soft voice from behind him.

“…-top. Stop chichiwei”, Mayumi called softly to the large back of her father.

“…What is it Mayumi? I have other business to attend to with the branch families”

 “Otousan”, calling her father like how she used to before they were old enough to be consumed by Samurai tradition, “We never heard anything about leaving school when one of us became the heir”

“…Of course not. I was the one who suggested it”, he turned to eye his daughter cooly, “you are a prodigy that appears once every hundred years within the Clan. In comparison to the boredom of everyday life, you will be given the chance to hone your sword skills to perfection, the dream of every aspiring samurai. Be glad for it daughter"

 “…But I am not…”, Mayumi replied almost in a whisper.

 “…Did you say something, daughter?”

 “I AM NOT HAPPY! BAKA TOUSAN!”, she yelled tearfully as she stood up suddenly to face the man that had raised her, clothed her, taught her everything she had ever knew.

 Masumi could only ogled at the audacity of her sister for being defiant at their father for the first time in either of their living memory, and for a moment, even he looked confused before his face assumed a coldness so severe that the twins nearly froze out of fear.

 “What are you not happy about, Mayumi?”, his words edged with killing intent.

 “This is not OUR happiness, otousan!”

 “Being a samurai IS everything!”

“The days of Samurai changing the fate of the nation is over, tousan! Masumi and I only want to play, go to school and make friends! Not this eternal preparation for a life of war with no battlefield!”

“Silence! You WILL obey me!”

 “Why won’t you let us be normal girls…. otousan?”

 “This discussion is over”, before turning to walk away, afraid that he might strike his own daughters in anger. But it wasn’t to end there…

 He heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed and turning, he saw that Mayumi had taken one of the katanas down from the wall, pointing the long blade in her small petite hands towards her father. He was so shocked, that for the first time, words failed him.

“The Head of the Clan is always the strongest one, isn’t that right, tousan”, her eyes looking unnaturally sharp at him, “I will be taking that position from you today… and save Masumi and myself”

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INTRO SONG: Trust Me

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Clang! Clang!

The sound of busy industry echoed throughout the stronghold village of Basterni outside his window as Ernst Rommer gave orders after orders to his subordinates tiredly from his desk, his men gazing upon him in worry since the old man hadn’t been taking proper rest for the past few days.

The reason was quite simple, one of his hidden 'birds' informed him of some news about a certain family member that he didn’t want to condone or believingly accept. When the agent gave a list of who attended the secret meeting with his brother and the details that were discussed, Ernst realised he can no longer afford to be naïve nor play ignorant to the actions of his own brother… however it was tearing apart his weary heart.

 Old words from long ago seemed to drift into his mind, he can only look back to his childhood memories in nostalgia and longing, both of them being terrible rascals to the general public, always arguing with each other but were quick to jump to one another's aid whenever either one was in trouble.

 Like a movie reel inside his head:

 "Damnit! Father really has lost it. Looks like we are being sent to the army", Edward grinned at him, their previous mischievous prank finally caused their Lord father to blow up in exasperation, belting both boys black and blue. The reason… they managed to bluff and stole an ENTIRE infantry regiment of 500 men to go monster hunting with them.

And another:

Edward nodded sagely to himself, "Ok, here is the plan, I will go 'harass' that girl and be an utter moron just for you, so swoop in and rescue the damsel in distress, like the prince charming that you are".

 "… how come the ratio of gorgeous girls in these plans when I am the villain leans towards you to an astonishing degree"

 Edward shrugged innocently, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?"

And another as they grew older:

 "…So how did this happen?", Ernst sighed in annoyance.

 "How would I know that she was the Colonel's daughter", Edward shrugged nonchalantly… although that was quite hard considering both men were tied hanging upside down from a tree by their ankles.

A grizzled and heavily muscled Centurion grinned quite pleasantly at the both of them, "So who would like their beatings first? I promise not to be gentle to either of you young strapping officers"

 Edward waved his hand cheerily towards the Centurion, "I volunteer! Also I will accept my brother's share too. I forcefully dragged him into this so he didn’t know what I was intending to do. Also I apologise for not visiting your whore of a mother like I promised to last week, my schedule with women was intense that time", cussing the officer in the hope that he would be beaten more so that the Centurion would be too tired to hurt his brother.

"No! I volunteer! Centurion! Your mother may be an ugly whore whom I would try to bed because I wanted to say that… I am your father!", Ernst realising his brother's plan, interrupted.

The Centurion could only shake his head, "Your bonds of brotherhood is just too beautiful, makes me almost want to stop the punishment…nah", cracking his knuckles, "just so you both know my mother IS a whore and I have quite a complex about that. So much so that I tend to tenderise 'meat' somehow conveniently hanging upside down swaying from a tree"

"Oh… I am sorry your mother is a whore?"

 "Haaa… you just can't shut up, can you Edward", Ernst sighed in exasperation.

"Like you're the one to talk!"

And finally one of them both as older veteran officers:

 "Huh? Don’t say stupid things Ernst, we will both live through this!", Edward snarled as he stood over Ernst who was lying crippled on the ground, his leg almost severed having stepped in to take the blow meant for his dear brother.

 "EDWARD don't be a fool and get out! There is too many of them! We will soon be overrun!", Ernst pleaded desperately.

"SCREW OFF! THERE IS NO MAN IN THIS WORLD WHO WOULD LEAVE BEHIND HIS OWN BROTHER!", as Edward went berserk and tore the throat of one enemy with his bare teeth who was lunging a sword toward Ernst.

…..

'Where did we go wrong?', Ernst thought sadly to himself.

'I can no longer look at that resolute back that stood in front of me anymore'

'Was it when I inherited father's will and gained his fief?'

"Sire?", a voice interrupted his thoughts as Ernst gaze refocused to the present.

"… Apologies, matters of old age tend to make me distracted. What is it?"

"It's about the new training regime of Centurion Natzmer. Although I can understand that we can become more flexible with our swordsmen also training to use the bow, and our bowmen learning how to use the sword but is there a necessity for the young orphans that he brought back to do the same?", one of his subordinates questioned.

"It is not only that is it? I heard they are also learning to treat wounds and playing with some homemade drums", Ernst glad for the distraction from old memories, "I have an idea as to what he is planning however that seems to involve incredible foresight".

"Is that so sire?", the urge to tilt his head in confusion was overwhelming.

"Well we shall see once he returns from his outing", Ernst grumbled, "has there been no words from our scouts yet about his whereabouts?"

 "None milord"

 "Haaa… where are you lad?", Ernst grumbled worriedly.

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WarWalker arched his brows in appreciation as he watched Gerhard drift in and out of the few cover available within the mazelike proving grounds, seemingly avoiding the patrols of the Aerytir Guard with incredible precision before homing in on the Seeker, dispatching one of them after another and causing the patrolling Aerytir Guard to fall into complete disorder and chaos. Leaderless, they soon start to drift aimlessly and in some cases where their residual personalities were originally quite strong, they soon began to claw at one another in fury.

What strike WarWalker in somewhat amazement, is that it appeared that Gerhard was also trying to avoid the eyes of the audience from above, something no other Selvari would even consider as necessary because all their enemies were on ground level. Therefore only a few of the more keen-eyed of the Elves could follow and trace the movements of this enigma of a human that was showing outstanding skills in tracking down and destroying the Seekers, only appearing suddenly to slay the creatures instantly before drifting back into cover. Well if WarWalker knew that Gerhard had spent several years trying to avoid getting strafed by Russian war planes with weapons that can punch holes through vehicles and tanks, anyone would develop caution from the potential eyes from the sky.

 A fragrant smell of a summer forest suddenly drifted close and he only nodded his head slightly in greeting to Mist as she stood next to him, a cool smile appearing on her face as she asked, "Your thoughts?"

WarWalker stood there silently for a few moments, before grudgingly admitting, "He is good" - translation service offered by Mist - <"He is better than any other Selvari youth, no he would even rival myself in war skills">

 "…Although we have been friends for a long time, this is the first time I have heard honest praise from you for anyone"

 "He is like a born warrior" - translation service offered by Mist -

 "…I sense a 'but' though"

 "His blood thirst… is strong", - translation service offered by Mist -

 Her eyes subtly took on the expression of worry as she asked, "Do you think he will succeed in this trial? I really do not want to turn my sword against him"

 "Of course he will fail, after all he is just a filthy Amin", a voice interrupted them.

Mist just glared at Ellemon briefly before turning away and refusing to acknowledge him with words.

 "…Ellemon", - translation service offered by Mist -

 Ellemon returned a haughty look before continuing, "And not only that, he doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of the power you claim that he possesses. After all Selvaria would never grant her gifts to outsiders"

"You should never underestimate anybody", unable to hold her silence, Mist replied in annoyance, "He is truly the Sainür , as he is proving himself now to all eyes of the clan"

"Yes, but the most important issue is whether his 'powers' will actually manifest themselves", Ellemon grinned almost wickedly, "All he is doing is fooling around with apparitions and playing hide and seek with the Seekers".

WarWalker snorted, - translation service offered by Mist -

"…Somehow I feel I was just massively insulted, Tel's'vär?"

"…Your imagination, Councillor", - translation service offered by Mist -

Mist, who is perhaps his closest friend and the only one who seemed to understand this Elf of few words, had her eyes almost twinkled in anticipation, like a little girl hoping for such a goddess sent gift.

 As the three of them were distracted due to their 'supposed' conversation, a low murmur spread out amongst the Elven audience which brought their attention back to the situation that was currently unfolding on the field.

 "Oh… he is finally going to meet with the Overlord of the Seekers", Ellemon chuckled, "This trial would have required cooperation with several youths to overcome this monster of monsters"

Down there, blocking the sole exit from the proving grounds, a creature sat cross-legged that bear the same semblance as a Seeker except that this monster stood head and shoulders taller and wore intricate leaf scale armour. A giant broadsword as tall as him lay across his lap as his single eye gazed forward in the distance, the monster lips seemed to curl upwards as though anticipating something.

'Will this be my ending or shall it be yours', was the slight expression that was conveyed from its deadpan face.

*********************************************************************************************

The person in question… well Gerhard was currently being a 'broken character'. With the guidance from Max giving him directions from above, no matter how any player looked at it, it was like being given a walkthrough guide on how to breeze/cheat their way through the game. Masumi had long since left, seeing that Gerhard was progressing through the maze easily and told Max not to mention anything of what happened to Mayumi before she logged out.

 Now only Lydia and William were left to make a nuisance of themselves as she was teaching the little boy this game called "Distraction", whereby he would go to an Elf and try to keep their attention on him by being adorable and Lydia would appear unknowingly behind the victi-- I mean their playmate so that she can casually prank them by borrowing their valuable items from their purses. Permanently. If Max knew what Lydia was doing he would have a fit while Gerhard… would just sigh in resignation.

Finally all the eyes of every Elf and his party were focused on Gerhard as he ascended the stairs up the sole pyramid like structure without ceremony, striding with purpose and yet still keenly aware of his surroundings.

'I have no choice in the matter', he grumbled silently to himself, 'this seemed like the sole main objective of this trial', fully aware that he was now in the open and feeling uncomfortable that he was exposed without so much as any cover. If his hunch was wrong, then he would be trapped at the top of the pyramid and have to fight his way back down.

As if to disprove his thoughts, when Gerhard crested the final step of the stairs, what appeared before him just as Max had said there would be was a flat platform whereby a single giant that appeared to be a Seeker was gazing back at him with an oddly inquisitive stare.

Silence reigned between both figures, one large, one small before for some reason the giant raised up its right hand and said, "Yo"

"…Uhh hello?"

"Well don’t stand for ceremony, have a seat", the giant pointed at the ground in front of him with his finger.

 This caused the Elven audience above to break out into commotion. This had never happened before! The Monster was supposed to be a mindless killing machine that was created from the souls trapped by the forest. Once killed, it would then be revived for the next trial in the distant future.

 "Don’t look confused. I suppose you are wondering what is going on", its voice sounded like gravel being run over.

 "Well, I am the first to admit that I should never judge a book by its cover, but I was under the impression that you were supposed to be…you know filled with murderous intent for all living things?"

 There was an odd chuckle before it replied, "Oh don’t get me wrong, I absolutely hate the Elves, every single last one of them however", its single eye gazed at Gerhard sadly, "I would never kill another human".

 "… I understand. It seems that your soul has remembered who you were once before"

"Well", the giant with one hand scratched its cheek in embarrassment, "All I remember was that I was once human… and that I may have been a hero. Perhaps my ego refused to be a mindless slave for the sake of my masters". The creature then gazed at its outstretched hand, before clenching it into a fist, "Well for all intents and purposes I am now a mutated monster, so", with the playful air from it dissipating it turned to Gerhard, "I am here to halt you from proceeding any further".

"…I see, that is regretful"

 "However", the giant showed a playful grin, "They never specifically told me how to stop you"

"Hoho… You have got me interested. Resolving things peacefully is how modern man should be like"

"Therefore if you can answer my riddle, I will let you past!"

 There was a collective "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??!!!!!", from the audience above as they all heard the unthinkable. Even Taisei had his eyes swimming as the Elders around him were trying to figure out what's going on. Ellemon, was so shocked that he for once didn’t have any snide remarks while WarWalker for the first time in Mist's memory actually chuckled.

 Gerhard's eyes seemed to shine as he said with absolute confidence, "I will have you know that I am pretty good at this".

 "Hurhur… well don’t disappoint me then. Let's see if you can answer all three correctly, I shall let you past unopposed, how about that?"

 Gerhard only nodded back in reply. He preferred this method of testing, violence should never be the answer to everything, although that is a hopeless dream when you are playing a VRMMORPG which has violence as its main theme…

 "Alright here is the first one. What runs around a city but never moves--"

 "A wall", Gerhard replied promptly.

 "… I see that was perhaps too easy for you. How about this. I have rivers without water. Forests without trees. Mountains without--"

 "A map", Gerhard interrupted again.

 "Eh?... wait wait. I didn't even finish yet"

"? I was wrong?"

 "Well no, but at least let me finish the whole riddle!"

"I apologise. Please do continue"

"…Ahem. Alright play time is over! I have been saving this one for many years but today I shall unleash it upon you!"

"…I am ready whenever you are"

"I begin eternity,

And end space,

At the end of time,

And in every place,

Last in life,

Second to death,

Never alone,

Found in your breath,

Contained by earth,

Water or flame,

My grandeur so awesome,

Wind dare not tame,

Not in your mind,

Am in your dreams,

Vacant to kings,

Present to queens".

 "The letter 'E'", the giant had just barely finished before Gerhard replied almost instantly.

 "…"

 "…was I wrong?"

"Well… I myself also didn’t know the answer to that one, I just had a memory of being told that by a tutor of some sort and to this day couldn’t solve it… so it WAS the letter 'E'. Huh… it does make sense…"

"Well then", Gerhard stood up and dusted his pants, "I suppose I can go past now?"

"…how about best out of six? … Actually it seems I must fight you", the Giant sighed as it stood up groaning as though suffering some sort of internal pain. "If I don’t it seems I will never be allowed to revive again as the forest is threatening to shred my soul into oblivion"

 "No I quite understand, we are creatures bound by duty after all", Gerhard nodded in understanding.

Swinging the giant broadsword as though it was light with only a single hand, "I don’t really need a warm up. Shall we begin?", he inquired politely. After all, it felt bad for going back on its own word. Once a hero, always a hero. Nice and civil too.

 "Me neither", Gerhard smiled sadly as he intoned, "Schwarzwald", and a burst of song erupted around him, musical notes and symbols drawn by leaves were floating slowly gently around him as he activated a skill for the first time in this world. The active skill of Tree Song surged forth and he could feel a subtle change within him.

 Gerhard poised himself to attack, sword pointed forwards as he said, "Shall we?"

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Ending Song: Kore wa Koi