✦ ✦ ✦
Back to normal, the king landed with a boisterous guffaw.
“Ha-ha, well done! Most enjoyable. As thanks, take this.” She snapped her fingers, and a single oversize treasure chest appeared. “Let’s fight again someday, when we’ve both grown more powerful. Say…after you conquer several more castles like this one.”
With that parting line, she let out one more satisfied cackle and vanished in a plume of fire.
“Okay…guess there’s more of these.”
“Hidden elements in hidden stages.”
“Not much of a hint… It’s gonna be hard to track them down. Don’t think I saw anything about them in the books I’ve read.”
“What she said might be the only hint there is.”
“Does that get us anywhere?”
Maple and Sally had cleared a hidden castle before—the flying one.
“Come to think of it, that had a dragon boss, too.”
“I feel like that could be significant.”
“If there’s several of them…think they’re on other stratums?”
“We’ll just have to go look. Pure coincidence we found this one, so it won’t be easy…but at least we do have a hint.”
If they were on the lookout while exploring, they were more likely to find things.
Perhaps it was a long-term goal, but it was yet another thing Maple Tree could work toward.
“So let’s get this chest open. Guild Master, do the honors.”
“Bring us some of that Maple luck. If the contents are randomized, I bet you’ll pull something better than any of us.”
“W-will I?”
A tough fight at the end of a hidden area—the chest that the dragon king had left behind was definitely promising.
They’d cleared it together, but this was Maple’s guild, and they had no problem letting her hog the glory.
“O-okay, but don’t get your hopes too high.”
Maple put her hands on the lid and slowly lifted it.
“Whoa!”
“It’s packed.”
Their eyes were first drawn to the heap of gold and jewels. A mountain of items to sell. Nice and all, but this was a hidden area. They worked through the treasures, hoping for more, and found quite a few materials and consumable items along the way. Below those, they found two scrolls and a bracelet.
“Figured it wouldn’t be something for each of us.”
“But those scrolls…”
“…must give skills!”
“Let’s scope them out together.”
Maple picked up the scrolls, examining the skill they contained.
They were both the same skill.
Dragonfire Storm
MP Cost: 50
Create fire spears in the air that attack for a period of time.
“The same thing she hit us with.”
“Pretty basic. Would work for anyone, but…”
Reproducing the king’s attack would apply pressure to any foe.
There was just one downside.
“If it’s fifty MP, Mai and I can’t use it,” Yui stated.
“So they’re all yours!” Mai said to the rest of the guild.
“I don’t have enough, either. Oh, but I could slot it to a weapon!” Maple added.
“That leaves Kasumi, myself, Kanade, Iz, and Sally.”
Skills and spells were vital in this game. Most players made sure they had a decent MP pool.
The five of them had at least fifty each.
“I’ll pass,” Kanade said. “I had fun just playing with everyone and have no shortage of AOE attacks.”
He tapped the bookshelves floating behind him. They’d all seen him in action often enough to know how true that was.
“I’m out, too. Fighting was never really my style; I’ll stay on support duty in combat,” Iz declined.
“We know how much damage you do…but I get your point.”
With the twins, Kanade, and Iz all out, that left four.
“Uh, Sally, I have an idea,” said Maple.
“……Mind if I guess?”
“Huh? Can you?”
“You wanna cede these to Kasumi and Chrome, right?”
Sally had nailed it in one, and Maple looked astonished.
“It’s very you,” Sally explained. “And I feel the same way. They’re the ones who found this area.”
“……You’re sure?”
“I’m not about to refuse.”
The scrolls were clearly valuable, but neither Maple nor Sally seemed concerned.
“Heh-heh, just make good use of them.”
“We know you will!”
Given that, both Chrome and Kasumi opened the scrolls. With these new skills, Maple Tree had gained two new powerful AOEs.
It would be a fierce follow-up for Chrome when he got in close. It would make good use of Kasumi’s mobility, allowing a hard strike after she dove through the enemy line. Neither would struggle to find uses for Dragonfire Storm.
“Then that’s settled. What’s the bracelet?”
Chrome picked it up, scoping it out.
Dragon Embers
[MP+30]
✦ ✦ ✦
Dragonfire Spear
Create up to two fire spears. These vanish after a while.
“Oh, it comes with a skill.”
“Might be rare, then. Not many accessories add attacks.”
“…Yeah, maybe I’m getting too used to that.”
“We have more than our share of odd gear.”
Twelve white hands floated in the air, and a cube that turned into weapons bobbed around them.
But this bracelet was still invaluable.
“Not exactly a unique series, but worth trying out.”
“Do the spears float?”
“Let’s find out.”
“I wanna see!”
“Okay, gimme a sec.”
Chrome took off an accessory, equipped Dragon Embers instead, and tried the skill out.
“Whoa?!”
The change was obvious immediately. Red flames ignited on his short sword hand, forming a spear.
He used the skill again, and this time a spear extended from his great shield hand in the same shape.
“I can’t swap hands… Yeah, this may not be right for me.”
“It does give you extra reach.”
“If I was like Velvet and not already holding a weapon… It could also be good for a mage trapped in a close-quarters fight.”
If a player already had something in each hand, it was impossible to also wield a spear effectively.
“We’ve already got enough accessories…”
“And there’s only two of them.”
Two floating hammers were better than two spears in hand. The twins knew what accessories were best for them.
“That wouldn’t be true for most people…but is for you.”
“I’ll pass… Already got a skill,” Kasumi said.
“Same. Doubt I’d learn to use it,” Kanade admitted.
“I’m good, too. I’ve got Fey, so I’m gonna stick to fighting with items.”
Which left only one candidate.
“Then it’s yours, Sally!”
“You’re sure?” Sally asked.
Maple and the others all nodded.
“You’ll clearly make the best use of it.”
“You’ve proven you can handle any weapon.”
“In which case, help yourself. Take it and show off even more the next time we play.”
Sally changed her gear, sheathed her daggers, and activated the bracelet skill twice, generating flaming spears.
“So it works when I’m not holding my weapons. Interesting…”
She checked the reach and ensured these flames could still block and parry—the bare minimum ability required to dual wield her new weapons. Besides the applied element, there was nothing unusual about them, so it didn’t take Sally long to master them.
“The tenth stratum isn’t far off, so should we hunt for hidden areas until then?”
“So far, the flying castle’s the only other one we’ve found.”
“I haven’t heard of any others.”
“Then let’s take our time with it. The hidden areas themselves aren’t going anywhere.”
“Time…,” Maple whispered. A rare flash of concern. “I’ve been told to focus on my studies soon. I should be good for the tenth stratum and the event, but that might be the end for me. Not sure how much I’ll be logging in after that.”
Everyone knew what phase of life that was.
“Studying for entrance exams? Fair enough. Real life matters more than games.”
“Yes. They’re both important.”
“Then let’s all work together on the tenth stratum and achieve one final goal. I mean, it’s supposed to have a super-boss.”
“Nice!”
“I’ll do my part!”
“Then we’re shooting for a quick clear? That way we’ll get to play with Maple till it’s over.”
The tenth stratum would be a huge map. With only eight of them, “quick” might be a tall order, but it was well worth gunning for.
The harder the journey, the more satisfying the outcome would be.
“If Maple’s gotta study, then how about you, Sally?”
“Yeah, afraid so.”
Sally looked rather glum.
Maple Tree’s members were all top-tier players, but Maple and Sally had made this guild—they were its heart and soul.
Both normal exploration and event battles would be very different without them.
“Roughly the same deadline?”
“Mm-hmm.”
That firmed up their goal. Explore fast, slaughter monsters—locate and beat that super-boss.
“Let’s do this!” Maple cried.
Everyone agreed, looking forward to going all out and finding a good place to end things.
✦ ✦ ✦
“……………”
She’d known.
She’d seen it coming.
She’d tried not to look.
But it was bound to happen.
Sally closed her eyes for a moment.
Happy travels. A dreamlike time. It came clearly to mind, because it had been that much fun.
✦ ✦ ✦
If only time could stop here.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was an impossible wish that left a sad smile on Sally’s face.
“……Maple, let’s go get that boss!”
“Yeah! I’m counting on you, Sally!”
“Heh-heh, you know you can.”
All journeys came to an end.
If she couldn’t stop that…
Then she had to make sure Maple enjoyed it all to the very end.
This time, Sally’s smile was a confident one.
✦ ✦ ✦
