✦ ✦ ✦
With so much to explore, the days flew by. Maple and Sally had learned their share of skills on the way there; the tenth-stratum monsters were tough, but never too great a challenge. They cleared quests steadily, never getting too stuck—by this point, they’d polished off the core quests in the basic first-stratum area.
Naturally, there were still secrets to be found, but those weren’t technically relevant to locating the demon lord, so they could wait for another day.
After packing up their book bags, they left the school, heading home.
“Well, Kaede? Can you make it today?”
“Mm-hmm! Heh-heh-heh, I studied ahead just so I could!”
“Wow, nice.”
“You in the clear, Risa?”
“I am so past any risk of my parents interfering.”
“Good to know!”
“Still, there are practice exams coming, so they might tighten the screws a bit.”
“Hnggg…then you’ll just have to get results!”
“Yup. That should get me some slack.”
Nothing convinced like good scores. As long as she impressed, her parents would likely allow her to have fun, too.
“Wanna do another study session? We just bought some good cake!”
“You just want that cake, Kaede.”
“I want to share it with you, Risa.”
“Well, thanks. I’ll be over before it gets stale, at least. They won’t argue if it’s for studying.”
“Can’t wait!’
“Me either.”
They had other plans that day, so the cake would have to wait. They kept walking.
Today they shared the same plan—one for an adventure in the game world.
“Let’s meet up in-game once we’re both home. Felt like we were getting near a tough boss.”
“Woo, I’m hyped!”
Once they got home, they changed out of their uniforms and dove into NewWorld Online.
✦ ✦ ✦
When Maple got to the Guild Home, Sally was already waiting for her.
“Am I late?”
“I just got here.”
Maple hustled over to Sally, then spotted something unique to the tenth-stratum Guild Home.
“Oh, they’re all connected now?”
“Seems like. Everyone worked hard! We’ll have to thank them later.”
Magic circles connected to the other stratums’ towns. Maple Tree had explored far and wide, but not that deep, and they could now visit any town they chose.
Their guildmates had laid the foundations for them to explore the new map in full.
“So the quest we’re taking on today should bring us to a tough boss.”
“But we don’t have proper facts on it yet?”
The quest name alone suggested it would be a doozy. Last session, they hadn’t had time for that, and so they had left it for another day—they didn’t know the details yet.
“Since you can start in any town, that gives us lots of freedom, but we’re a little short on intel.”
“If the progression were stricter, and we all went the same way, we’d have more to reference, but this time…”
“Exactly.”
“Should we ask for help? No harm in being prepared!”
“I certainly want to win, so not a bad idea. Anyone on your friends list seem like they’re available?”
Anyone Maple regularly messaged was an asset to have around. Maple’s build was game breaking, so her friendships gravitated toward equally broken players. She sent off a message quick and waited for a reply.
“……They’re in!”
“Cool, that should help us handle just about any boss.”
They waited a bit, and soon the circle lit up as two players teleported in.
“Maple!”
“Making good progress?”
“Mai, Yui! Thanks for helping!”
““Leave bosses to us!””
Maple had gone straight to the twins. It had been a long time since she first scouted them, and now they had the highest attack in the entire player base—not just in Maple Tree. They’d grown into a reliable damage source.
“You two having fun exploring?”
“We’re mostly exploring the third-stratum area with Iz and Kanade.”
“There’s a few hurdles to clear, but if you can pull that off, it sounds like you can use flying machines here, too!”
They only worked on the tenth stratum, but the twins did have boot-shaped flying machines (just like in the third stratum). With those, players could take to the air during combat.
“You made the right choice going after the machines first.”
“We can tell you a fast way to get your own!”
“Great! Those boots really let me pull some crazy combat stunts on the third stratum. Well worth having just in case.”
Areas Maple and Sally had yet to try were filled with delights. It was impossible to have enough time.
“We’re doing great, too. Found a new skill.”
““What kind of skill?!””
“Um. I can make poison copies of myself!”
““…??””
“And then they explode and poison everything!”
““……????””
“……She’s not wrong.”
The twins were trying to picture multiple Maples moving around and then exploding, but the best they could manage was all too alien.
“Better to see it an action. Mind helping us with this boss fight?”
“S-sure!”
“We’re in!”
Recovering from the shock, they went to accept the quest.
“Oh, can you two take this quest?”
It was available to Maple and Sally because they’d cleared several previous quests. Mai and Yui had yet to fulfill any of those prerequisites.
“That should be fine. They might not be able to accept it, but they can tag along and help with the fight, and join in the ultimate battle against the demon lord.”
“Really?”
“I swear. So don’t worry, just follow your own quests.”
Sally didn’t elaborate further, but that was enough to quiet Maple’s concern. Now they could happily head out to fight this boss.
“But first, we’ve got to accept the quest!”
Maple and Sally took the twins to the quest center, the same building where they always got quests. They’d walked that way a bunch and would hardly get lost. The same man was standing at the table.
“Welcome again! With your assistance, we have quashed many a threat. We owe you a great debt. But I’m afraid I must plead for your aid once more.”
He then told them about a minion of the demon lord running wild—the greatest threat yet. The quest goal was clear as a bell: Take it down.
“This foe will not be easily bested. We investigated and prepared an item you may find useful. I’m afraid there’s not many, but it may turn the tide of battle.”
“Thanks!” Maple said, taking the items—three heavy black orbs on her palms, each the size of a baseball.
“We should have more in due time. Come back if you run out.”
Sally explained that, in other words, they could resupply, but players could not carry more than three at a time.
“We’ll have to use them wisely…”
“And make sure we know what they do!”
“They should counter something the boss does.”
“I have faith in your abilities. We’ll ensure the other monsters stay out of the area. We won’t let them disrupt your battle!”
“Great!”
Beating the boss would clear this quest. The reward: Demon Lord’s Mana I. Not a phrase they were familiar with. For now, they left the building, discussing what it could mean on their way to the field.
“I think this Demon Lord’s Mana thing is a key item leading to the tenth stratum’s super-boss.”
“Aha.”
“That should make it easier to figure out which quests we’ve gotta get to.”
“Do other areas offer similar items for the last quest?”
“Too soon to say. It seems like this town’s got the most players working from it, so other areas are still not well documented.”
If you could start anywhere, it made sense that a lot of players went with the place closest to the stratum entrance—one with fewer weird gimmicks.
“So let’s look forward to working it out. I think riding Tsukimi and Yukimi around would be our fastest option here.”
Mai and Yui were like Maple—their builds were too extreme for them to ride dragons. That being the case, they had to call in their tamed monsters.
“Tsukimi!”
“Yukimi!”
They climbed on the bears and raced out across the field. Mai and Yui put Helping Hands all around them and kept the hammers spinning. Any monsters that approached died instantly.
“This should handle things to our destination.”
“Wow!”
“We’re really good…”
“…at killing monsters!”
They spoke no lies. The toughest of foes could not withstand this hammer whammer—and even the fastest monsters failed to slip through the whirling blender.
The standard monsters scattered around fields were primarily experience fodder and not capable of making their freight train pause.
None of them wanted to waste any time here—they were after a boss and only a boss. And so they charged on across the field to the quest location.