Chapter 16: Traveling

It burst out of the underbrush in a feat of speed. Behind it followed no less than three balls of light, making it and its coat of slightly singed fur impossible to miss.

"Myrddin, it's heading your way! Cut it down!"

I had already unsheathed my sword early on, the large black blade in front of me protectively, but I didn't move, not even as it rushed at me. If one watched carefully then, they would've seen why - my knees were shaking and threatening to collapse, my unbridled fear already handicapping me of basic fighting ability.

Nevertheless, Rain continued to yell. "Myrddin, cut it down!"

Snapped out of it, I found my voice.

"With this sword of mine, I shall defeat my enemy!" I half-sang, half-yelled, "Vertical Cleave!"

Following the basic Swordsman skill, my body went through the motions, partly-automated by the Player Assist system. My knees bent, giving me a better stance, before my arms swung my sword from the side, cutting from the bottom and reaching for the top - easily bisecting the large beast that was rushing at me.

Lucky Hit! 2.5x damage!

You have defeated the Forest Boar: Lvl 39! You have gained 1300 EXP!

You have now received Forest Boar Meat x 2!

With a heave, I collapsed on my feet. Rain met me there before I could completely fall to the ground.

He had a slightly troubled look on his face. "You still alright, Myrddin?"

I couldn't hold back a sigh, shaking my head as I banished away the alert window.

"No, no, I suppose I'm not." I said a bit self-deprecatingly, causing Rain to frown. "I'm really sorry about this, Rain - here I am, boasting that I would go along with you, only to be unable to fight properly without getting the urge to run. Look at me - that boar was more than a dozen levels lower than me, and I still found it difficult to attack."

Suddenly, a finger flicked itself over my forehead. Ow.

"Don't say that." Rain scolded me, making a fair imitation of a displeased mother. And he said that I acted like one... "You still managed to defeat it in the end, right? That's good enough for now - small steps make the entire journey. And at least, with this kind of training, we won't run out of food anytime soon."

My mind wandered back to the dozens of monsters, all of them leaving behind foodstuff and various ingredients. "I suppose so..."

With a friendly smile, Rain held out his hand. "Now, pick yourself up. Those monsters aren't going to kill themselves soon."

I couldn't help the fond expression that lifted my lips before I took the preoffered aid.

"Did you really need to say those things, by the way?" Rain asked, the moment I recovered on my feet. "I mean, do all Swordsmen really have to say those kinds of arias just to attack? It sounds a bit problematic; what if you needed to ambush someone? Wouldn't that ruin whatever attempt to be stealthy?"

I shook my head, wincing at the thought of such a situation befalling on me. "No. It's just me - it helps me focus and attack instead of just running away."

"Like a battlecry?"

My mind recalled a certain night inside the Darkling Woods. Singing while fighting... that was a memory I was certain that I wouldn't forget anytime soon. Especially considering it was becoming my personal fighting style.

"Yeah, you can say that. I actually picked up the idea from you at some point. Before that, I never really fought as a Swordsman outside of the event that turned me into one in the first place. All I just did was run away whenever I met monsters, squirreling away money to use inside casinos just to buy food."

Rain only looked amused at the casual mentioning of my past days.

"Well then, Myrddin." He walked to my side, his eyes already wandering in search for another monster. He then turned back to me, tapping at my shoulder. "Starting today, that previous Myrddin is Myrddin no more! When I'm through with you, you would be capable of beating down hundreds of monsters on your own!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, Rain, for now I think you would have to bear the weight of good ol' me."

Rain grinned at me, his voice affecting a wisened tone as he stroked an imaginary beard over his chin.

"Don't worry, for I'll lead you all the way, my young padawan. I can endure the responsibility of helping you grow into yourself."

Oh, you cheeky little...

As I held back the urge to strangle that expression off his face, I turned to glare at another direction, muttering complaints beneath my breath about annoying Fools and their idiosyncrasies. Rain smirked at his victory over this bout of banter, before also turning to close his eyes in focus as he went to work.

Subtly, I gazed at Rain from the corner of my eyes. What he was about to do was amazing to watch. Not that I was about to tell him that - I was far more inclined to fight ??? again, alone and naked, than to praise Rain in front of his face.

It began with a soft film of blue light that covered his entire body. Then, the energy slowly spiralled off over his head, coalescing in his hand into what looked like a Magelight, only far more dangerous. The ball of energy glowed red for a moment, then swelled, getting far and far larger until a large vibrating polychromatic sphere of pure power was over Rain's hand.

The title above Rain glowed, The Magician (I) being proclaimed almost proudly.

"Concussive Lights."

He clenched his hand into a fist, and suddenly the sphere collapsed into itself, bursting into a large group of small colorful balls that flew all around us, heading for all of the trees and bushes.

The next instant, the sounds of explosions filled my ears. I knew then and there that yet another group of small forest creatures died instantly as Rain's hard work of fusing Mana Explosion and Magelight struck them from above, leaving them no chance to escape or dodge before they burst into pixels.

And of course, there were those that survived the initial onslaught.

"They're incoming." Rain commented, his eyes closed but I knew that meant little considering his high-leveled Critical Eye. "Three of them, one from your right."

Shaking my head off the awe that had befallen me as - really, at this point Rain didn't even need my help - I unsheathed my sword again, placing it between me and what I knew was arriving.

It was a large deer this time, with antlers so huge they might as well be tree branches. My legs began to feel heavy again at the sight, but Rain's presence right beside me helped. Slowly, but surely, I knew I was getting better at helping my friend. Even if for now I was just a load behind his back.

"I am Myrddin, and I shall cut you where you stand!" I sang again, feeling surer with every single note that left my lips. My arms went to position for an attack, and this time I wasn't entirely sure it was just the Player Assist. "Diagonal Cutter!"

In a flash, the deer burst into pixels as my skill instantly killed it with one hit. An alert window informed me of another lucky hit and some loot, but I ignored it for the time being as the very next second a bear clawed out from the forest, leaving me needing to hurry to cut it down before it reached Rain.

"You shall be reduced to pieces! X-Slash!"

It continued to be a fruitful day of our journey together.

"So... at this point, where are we now again?"

Being the one far more used in long-distance travel, I sighed at Rain. Though I had to admit to feeling the same kind of impatience when I was traveling alone, I never realized how annoying it was when it was somebody else asking the question. Many times. Many, many times, as if the world was going to shrink if he kept at it-

I felt a headache coming on. How that happened while inside a virtual world, I didn't know, but somehow Rain managed.

"Rain, no matter how many times you ask, it doesn't change the fact that we're not even halfway there."

Rain responded to my answer with a loud groan.

Wasn't Rain supposed to be the leader here? Then why am I feeling like his babysitter?

He was looking at the copy of the map of Fate Online that Grimm gave us before we left. Sneaking in a glance of my own, making a small bit of calculations as I did, I winced as I remembered why I didn't buy a map when I left my character's homeland.

Really, it was kind of disheartening to realize that all our walking so far only merited a few inches on the map of Terraria.

"By the way," I asked, jumping across a fallen tree as I did. "Who are we going to meet again? You still haven't told me."

Rolling the map and placing it back to his inventory, Rain sighed before sending me an evil grin.

"Oh, you'll be surprised alright..."

I rolled my eyes at his childishness. "Come on, Rain. Tell me now."

"Nope!" Rain sang cheerily. "It's a secret between me and Grimm. You'll just have to know when we get there."

I sent him a glare, before finally giving up. If there was something I was learning about my new friend over the course of the past few days, it was that he could get really stubborn if he wanted to. The skies would rain fire and brimstone, a great earthquake would rip apart the world, and a meteor would drop from the heavens, but Rain would still act stubborn.

If I hadn't confirmed it from his mouth, I would've never believed that Rain and Brian were the same person. The two were practically opposites.

"Alas, but such is reality." I murmured to myself, not for Rain to hear. "I just had to befriend such a troublesome person..."

Rain popped up closer to me. "What was that? Were you saying something?"

I sent him a grin. "No. If you're not going to tell me anything, I won't tell you either."

Big mistake. Rain's face morphed into the much-feared 'Mischievious Mode'. Considering that the last time it happened, I ended up being kicked into a group of aggressive mobs... I did the only right thing to do in such a situation.

I ran.

It only took him a second to give chase. Then, it took him two minutes to capture me.

Thirty minutes later, I somehow found myself in a group of - thankfully passive - monsters, with a bag in my hands.

"I'm really not convinced this is a good idea..."

Rain pushed me forward, his grin practically dripping with malice.

"Go on, Anakin!" He cheerily shouted. "To be stronger have you!"

"Where do you get all these references?"

"I researched just for this kind of situation. Now, go!"

A bit foolishly, I did as Rain told me. Stepping nearby one of the resting rabbits, I took one of the eggs from their nest.

The rabbits immediately shifted their eyes at me, high alert ringing in my mind at their gazes.

Heaving a gulp, I took the rest of the eggs.

Suddenly, their eyes went red.

The next moment, I was running away with rabid rabbit teeth marks around my throat.

"AHHHH!"

Rain smirked at his corner. "Egg Picking Exercise, begin."

Fifth day of travel.

At some point over the course of yesterday, the two of us logged out to continue on with our real life duties as students. For once, I didn't feel overly surrounded the moment I entered the classroom as Brian met me at the door, looking unbelievably sweaty for a reason he didn't expand on.

I had been too busy teasing him on the subject to even notice the odd stares the two of us were receiving until the end of the day.

Then, in Fate Online, we continued to walk our way through the path, following the river into the direction of the Rocky Mountains. More training, banter, and just generally wasted time as we walked the distance of miles with our untiring virtual bodies.

And when Rain had at some point requested a song from me, I had only been too glad to even think of saying no. Immediately, even as we walked across the rocky trail that increasingly became steeper and steeper with every step, I burst out into song, a self-made orchestra ringing loud in my ears.

I loved music, really. And with the way Rain fully supported my interest in it, I really enjoyed making up songs as I went, at points simply singing about whatever we saw as we walked.

"The mountains, white with snow, how high are you? Tell me mountain, how is it when you look at me?"

"Probably, you look like a dot to them." Rain commented seriously to the side, and I had to grin at his sass. "Or some kind of horrible fly, I suppose."

I held back the urge to laugh, still continuing to sing. But I had to tease him back for it somehow, so...

"Oh mountains, that is not true! Forgive him for his foolishness, for his head had once hit a tree!"

An affronted look reached Rain's face, and I couldn't hold back the laughter anymore.

Thus, I continued to sing, walking and enchanging entertaining quips with Rain as we walked. Rain was fond of dramatic retorts, apparently, and I had plenty of oppurtunities to send sarcasm in return. Sure, it meant that we both at points pretended to 'dislike' each other, but where was the fun in acting buddy-buddy all the time?

Too bad that it was all interrupted.

It was Rain who noticed them first, possibly due to Critical Eye. Breaking off our banter, he jumped for my direction, tackling me down to the ground. Shocked at the sudden action, the moment I recovered I turned my eyes towards Rain, incidentally placing my gaze over my former location.

Where my head should've been, was an ash-grey arrow.

"Bandits!"

I didn't need to be told anymore.

Immediately, I jumped off the ground to my feet, my sword already drawn in my right hand. Placing myself in a defensive stance, I took a look around - and saw them in the direction Rain was glaring at.

Four, no, five men. Dressed in light leather armor, they all wore red bandannas over their heads. Two of them had bows in their hands, with the rest being obvious swordsmen. Their eyes were an unsettling shade of yellow, and I didn't need to look over their heads to see that they didn't have Alignment Cursors.

Bandits.

Unlike Grimm or the kids over the orphanage, they weren't in any way NPCs. After all, while once upon a time Bandits were considered to be in the same group as NPCs, over the past few years the change in public perception on the subject of AI had them reclassified as 'humanoid monsters' in the eyes of the system. After all, unlike Conrad or Elena, they didn't have real intelligence and only had the same kind of programming as the common slime. This made them excempt from the law that otherwise protected artificial life. Or so I've been told by Professor Brunnings in class.

Now, I just had to remember that, instead of shaking on my knees at the scarily realistic glare that was being sent my way.

"Myddin, focus." Rain called out to me, his hand holding his staff protectively between us and the bandits. "Don't be scared - you won't be fighting alone this time. Just pretend that they're the same boars we were fighting before, and sing if you really have to."

I quavered, but I managed to nod. Tightening my grip over my sword's pommel, I repositioned myself offensively.

The bandits struck first, nonsensical growls and yells coming out of their throats.

The two archers pulled upon their quivers and shot arrows in our direction, followed by the swordsmen charging at us. The attack was fast and smooth - no margin of human error and perfectly enacted like some kind of simulation. Had it been done in real life, it would've merited a true threat.

But in this world? Laughable.

Truly, there was nothing more predictable than a simple AI to those who had superhuman virtual bodies.

"Split up!"

My feet already took me to the side before Rain even opened his mouth. A passing glance at the corner of my eyes revealed that my friend had gone to the other direction, his staff moving like water across rock as he leaped for the incoming swordsmen. The blue glow that covered his weapon already told me that Rain was fine on his own - instead, I burst out into a run.

Rain can handle the swordsmen - it's my job to take out the archers!

Seeing me run for their direction, the archers shouted something to each other before turning their bows on me. Less than a second later, arrows were already whistling in the air, all of them aiming for my head.

However, none of them would reach their mark.

"A swordsman is never stopped by arrows!" I proclaimed, setting my sword in front of me. "Arrow Interceptor!"

Immediately, the sword in my hand glowed softly before my weapon arm moved all by its own - cutting down the arrows aiming for me as I ran without pause nor care for the liberal amount of projectiles that were flying towards my direction. The ground that stepped on were soon littered with broken wood and arrow points, the distance between me and my targets gradually decreasing.

Arrow Interceptor: Lvl 6 (Active)One of the ten basic Swordsmen Skills. Now, with Swordsman Satoru's teaching, you can now cut down arrows before they hit you. Higher levels allow use against other kinds of projectiles. Current number of arrows that you can block: 6 arrows/second. Costs 200 mp per use.

Current level now allows you to deflect thrown minor weapons.

Good thing that Swordsmen were naturally built to counter ranged enemies. Otherwise I would've ran in the opposite direction.

"Mana Explosion!"

I didn't have to turn to know that the pained cries that came from Rain's direction were from his enemies. After all, with that new staff of his that had a frustrating ability to regenerate durability, there was no way Rain was going to hold back on opponents like Bandits.

Shaking off the slight chill inside my spine at the memory of a certain staff, I focused again on my opponents.

The first archer that I came upon struck out with his bow like a bat. Easily dodging the slow attack, it only took me a millisecond to bisect the offending weapon with my sword before I brought it down to his chest. It went through his armor like it was just paper, and soon he was down.

I turned to the other archer. That was when I noticed him acting differently.

As if learning that attacking me with arrows was useless, he focused on somebody else: Rain. Watching my friend from afar, it was plain to see that Rain was distracted by his own enemies - at this point, if an arrow was shot towards him, it would hit. And while I knew Rain could take it, I wasn't so easy on the idea of letting my friend feel the sensation of an embedded arrow.

So when the remaining archer pulled on his string to make the shot, I shouted. Loudly.

"STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!"

Without meaning to, my voice came out as a roar, easily overpowering every other sound in the area. From the sound of clinking swords to Rain's explosions - all of it was replaced by my voice, ringing loudly and clearly through the mountain like the final sound of a gong.

Everyone froze. Even Rain. The archer even shook to the point he simply let go of his bow.

The sound of several windows popping up filled my ears, but I ignored them to take the oppurtunity of stabbing the archer in the chest. Then, like time was restarted, Rain moved to action. Swinging his staff into a blue crescent, he finished off his own stunned enemies.

It took me a few seconds after that to realize that: yes, the battle was over.

It went a lot better than I expected. We weren't even injured. Because of me.

Still feeling a bit stunned, I stared at the alert before my face.

Repeated use of your voice in battles has created a new skill, Intimidate!

Intimidate: Lvl 1 (Active)Since times long past, people have used fear and respect in battles to discourage others from going against them. For one blessed with an overwhelming presence, there is nothing more easy than breaking the will of foes. With more experience comes more power to intimidate.

Uses mana to enhance presence and voice. Inflicts fear and terror on enemies lower-leveled than the user, otherwise causing a short stun and disorientation. Currently costs 2500 mp per use, affects up to a ten meter radius, with higher effects to closer enemies. Area of effect and cost is affected by skill level.

This skill is activated only during times of high tension for the user.

"Good job, Myrddin." Rain grinned as he ran up to me. "I knew you always had it in you."

I banished the alert before closing my eyes.

It's true. I didn't even feel the urge to run away this time. I helped Rain of my own volition.

I smiled.

"Of course," If there was a small bit of confidence, a bit more than what I usually felt in my voice, Rain didn't mention it. "Who do you think you are talking to?"

"So, here we are."

Rain's voice was void of emotion as he said those words, but his expression was dreadfully grim. This time, I shared the same feelings with him as the two of us gazed off the top of a cliff, seeing the goal of our week-long journey. Minutes ago, Rain had been cheerily smiling as always, but the moment we caught sight of the town...

Fire and ashes. Over half the town was in fire and ashes.

From our perch, black smoke threatened to go in our way as buildings and property burned, turning into dust before our very eyes. Thankfully, there was no sound of fighting to be heard, but the same could also be told about people. It was early afternoon, but no man nor woman could be seen outside.

Several buildings were in flames, and no one was putting them out. What could be the reason as to why they weren't saving the town?

"Rain... tell me." I said lowly, feeling the heat of the flames even from where I was. "Who are we supposed to meet again? Why are they having problems with peace, especially after the War people had signed a world-wide armistice?"

"Myrddin, it's not war when it's the town fighting within itself. And even Grimm didn't know that it was this bad."

Rain stared at the town, with pure rage in his eyes.

"You know what fraction of the Human race lost the most when they ended the War? This one."

The Fool laughed, the sound hollow as it resounded inside my ears.

"Vikings, Myrddin. We're dealing with Vikings."