Episode 55 — Duel
Twenty-Eighth Day in the Month of Silvergrass (January 28) in the Year of the Dragon
Floor 52
Doombunny walked with the rest of the Wondercolts as they exited the strategy meeting for the fifty-second floor boss. It has been a huge adjustment, pinning her to another Wondercolt. Not only was she constantly tied to one of her friends, the DDA was consistently attempting to spy on her. They always failed to keep their observations from going unnoticed, at least by Doombunny.
Yamata was ahead of them in the crowd, but Doombunny's most recent skill was "Listen." She could hear his slanderous and snide comments from where she was. They were crystal clear to her, even among the rest of the chatter.
Her anger flared at his latest derogatory remark. He needed to be put in his place like the dog he was. Doombunny pushed past Bladescape. "YAMATA!" She yelled. "WHY DON'T YOU SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"
The crowd in front naturally split from trying to see who had called him out. She strode forward confidently, intent to not be lost if it collapsed. Her movement solidified its open position as players looked between her and Yamata, who was with his squad in their silver and blue gear.
"What?" He asked.
"I said," Doombunny growled, trying to keep her anger controlled. "Why don't you say that stuff to my face? The stuff about me being a viper bitch who is always sneaking around and conniving. That's only a little bit of what you said before the meeting started and as we were walking out of here. I left out the really nasty and dishonorable things you called me.
"And your attempts to spy on me all month haven’t gone unnoticed by me either. I'm not a fool. I'm not blind. I'm probably smarter than you. And I am sick of your snide comments and rude remarks. I heard every one you made as you ‘so cleverly’ spied on me and my friends."
"I…" Yamata stuttered. "Not only can you Hide in plain sight, you also have Listen as a skill‽"
"So?" Doombunny asked, not dropping the edge on her voice. She wasn’t going to let him distract from the issue. "I assigned it because I like to just sit and listen. Listen to the birds, listen to the trees, listen to the wind, listen to the water, listen to all the different animals. And if you sat and listened you would hear a lot of beautiful things beyond the background music. Aincrad isn't a silent world. They put a lot of time and effort into the smaller details like sound that enhances the experience and makes this feel almost exactly like real life. It just also happens to give me the ability to hear rude players like you speak when they should be holding their tongues."
"Well, so what?" He snidely asked. "Are you just going to say that and slither away, viper bitch?"
The crowd, full of the top players in the game, was making a clear circle. Everyone in the boss meeting was present and watching. Doombunny wasn't going to let his slander go unanswered. She had to stand up for herself if the players were going to see her as equal.
"How rude!" Doombunny declared. "My name is Doombunny and you should only address me as such! At one point I thought you had more honor than you apparently do."
"Right," Yamata snorted. "And what are you seriously going to do about it?"
Malus spoke up from behind her before Doombunny could give Yamata her response. "I'll beat that respect into you!"
"Yeah, you could," Yamata scoffed. "But that would only prove what we all already know, that the Iron Bulwark is so strong she can beat me to a pulp. And trying to defend her honor doesn't actually prove that she hasn't done anything. She can Hide, she can Listen, she can slither and sneak away and easily sell her poisonous wares to bad players."
"I keep tight control over everything I make!" Doombunny declared. "That includes anti-poison potions and remedies. Colorra and I are a team and it makes perfect sense for me to take advantage of her natural gifts like her poison, but I have never sold, given away, or lost a single one. All substances are controlled by me! The few vials carried by my guildmates are kept under tight watch. None of us are dumb enough to let these fall into the wrong hands. Part of me convincing them to carry them in the field for emergency use included me insisting on those measures. Better to have them and use them to save lives than not, at least now that I can make them."
"None of that is impressive," Yamata snorted. "I'm still not convinced, but seriously, what can you do to prove you're not involved with them?"
"How about I show you how I beat Serigatal The Wolf Master!" Doombunny shot back. "A taste of how I repeatedly stabbed him in the heart for torturing those poor wolves he set on us! Their harm demanded justice so I stopped him from hurting any more wolves! And your slanderous actions against me deserve justice as well!"
With a few clicks of her menu a duel challenge popped up in front of Yamata.
"I'll prove to you I can fight clean and that I don't slink around," Doombunny declared. "And I'll do it without Colorra! Just me and you."
"This request is for Half Loss Mode!" Yamata said, startled.
"Afraid?" Doombunny taunted. "A First Strike Duel only proves who can get the first strike in, not who is the better fighter. There will still be plenty of time for you to heal up after I beat you and before it's time for the boss raid to assemble. Besides, it's not like I can kill you. It's only Half Loss Mode and I'm using a dagger. It doesn't have the attack required to eliminate half of your HP in a single strike, even if I score a critical attack."
"Fine!" Yamata said, hitting accept and drawing his curved sword. "I'll put you in your place, Viper Bitch."
The preparation timer was ticking down before the start. Doombunny walked over to the side and Colorra dropped off her shoulders. She told Colorra to watch over the hunting dagger she put in front of the snake.
"There," Doombunny said, walking back into the middle to face Yamata. "My familiar won't get involved and my hunting knife won't accidentally be drawn."
Despite Doombunny knowing better, their partnership was seen by the system as master and familiar. It had its advantages.
"Hunting knife?" Yamata asked as he adjusted his grip on his sword.
"Mhm," Doombunny replied, nodding as a sly smile pursed her lips. "It's the one I have specifically poisoned to quickly dispatch monsters if they swarm us. Better safe than sorry. Besides, I always carry plenty of anti-poison and green crystals for a reason. I’m not a stupid bitch like you say I am."
Doombunny swept her cloak free, pinning it open and fully displaying her dress underneath it, as well as her Beast Tamer's Charms. As the seconds disappeared, she crouched down, getting into a ready position low to the ground. She reached to her left hip, drawing out the single edged knife that served as her general purpose fighting blade.
As the buzzer sounded, Yamata charged, sword glowing. Doombunny hesitated and then struck when the timing was right. She went very low, activating Constriction.
Constriction was a Sword Skill that the Beast Tamer’s Charm gave her. The charms were the LAB from Serigatal The Wolf Master. It accessed Colorra's skills and attacks, making them user friendly for her master. They were separate from the weapon's Skill level with all of them being unlocked, so long as she wore the charms. The Sword Skills were translated to One-Handed Knife combination attacks, but the charms could translate Colorra's attacks into combinations for any weapon. Knives and daggers just happened to be the best since they were like the elapid's fangs. Construction was a fury of multiple strikes, starting low and working around and up, like a snake squeezing the life out of its food. It used both slashes and stabs, but was mostly slashes.
The skill launched Doombunny under Yamata's attack and just above the ground. Her blade was glowing like a rainbow, shifting colors and mimicking Colorra's rainbow shimmer in the light. The first strike was a stab into Yamata's right foot, like a snake’s bite. It provided the anchor to stop her forward movement. As she slid to a stop, she got in multiple slashes from all angles, including reaching around front to slash open his ankles. She came around to his left as the height of her attacks was slowly raised.
Typically, the number of combination strikes in a Sword Skill rose higher with speed based weapons, like a rapier or dagger, than they did with heavier hitting weapons. It helped balance things so weapons were more equal along the same line. However, the skills unlocked through the charms and Colorra were not restricted in the same way to the combination hit limits and delay timing that normal attacks were. They were timed off Colorra, who was seen as a monster to the system. There were different rules for her attack combination compared to the Sword Skills of a player. There even were different rules for Colorra since the Ruby Krait was not a tamable monster. Doombunny's slices easily hit two dozen, and that was not counting the stabs she kept making. That was a far higher count than any of the dagger combos Doombunny had unlocked.
It all happened in a second or two and Yamata was unable to stop it as his delay from his failed Sword Skill froze him. Doombunny's second to last strike ended with her in front of him, dagger up and still glowing, ready to drive the last strike home into his face. His body was covered in red slash marks and Doombunny could tell that she was glowing yellow, indicating that Fighting Spirit was active. Judging by the strength of the glow, she was very angry. More angry in a fight than she had ever been, barring the boss fight she got the charms in. At least the yellow color made her appear righteous as if the sun was shining upon her, rather than being dark or evil colors like black or red.
Doombunny made a declaration as his health bar slid down, trying to catch up to the speed of her attack. "Just because I don't look like a classic warrior and have chosen skills not typically chosen by a front line fighter, doesn't mean you can disrespect me! I am a member of the Assault Team and on the front lines for a reason. I've fought Floor Bosses and killed one all on my own. That's more than you can say!"
His health hit halfway and the win was given to Doombunny. The only fanfare was from her 'winner' logo. Every other player didn’t know what to do. Many of them were visibly disturbed. The duel system canceled Doombunny’s final strike and she stepped to the side. Yamata’s health was still slipping lower. Released from the delay, he staggered and fell face forward to the ground. Doombunny reached into one of her small punches on the front of her waist and pulled a vial out.
"Don’t worry,” She coldly said with her sweet and cute voice. “I’m sure it’s a horrible feeling to watch your health continue to slip away after the duel is over, but you can’t die. Even if you feel that fear, you can’t die because you are no longer in a duel. Your health bar is simply catching up to the hits it registered during the legal duel. As to the paralysis, that is a side effect of the Constriction Sword Skill, not something I applied. But this will end it without waiting for it to wear off or wasting an antidote crystal. I don't actually know how long it stays because anything I've used the skill against died too quickly."
None of his friends, or anyone, had approached to help. Doombunny stooped down to his paralyzed body as he groaned in pain. She popped the vial’s top off and then put it in his mouth, tipping it back. In another second the effect wore off and Doombunny walked over to Colorra and her hunting knife.
Yamata's health finally stopped depleting. He was solidly in the red, alive, but not by much. If she had driven home the last stab, it would have depleted to a tiny sliver. Doombunny looked over her shoulder at him. He finally had two friends helping him up.
"I would carefully consider your words from here on out,” Doombunny warned him, loud enough for all to hear. “The next player may not be as gracious and patient with your insolence as I am and have been. Also, I'm sorry. I forgot that sword skill has a paralyzing effect to it. If I had remembered, I would have chosen another." Doombunny's chuckle was ice cold. "Honestly I've seen monsters handle it much better than you did."
It was that final taunt that was toeing the line almost too much. Commander Heathcliff stepped out into the center. He clapped slowly five times to congratulate her and to cut the tension, preventing it from further escalating.
"Congratulations on the win, Doombunny,” Commander Heathcliff said. “I must say, it was fascinating to watch. We don't have any other beast tamers on the front lines, but you have been there from the start. Your record stands for itself. I am sorry to see that it was soiled by such an ugly affair.
"Fear has taken a hold of many of us,” Heathcliff declared to everyone present. “A fear we cannot let take hold or control us. We have worked beside each other for a long time. We are all green players for a reason too. Yes, tensions get high at times. But the real enemy is always fear. And that is why we have to drive forward to the next Floor, and then the Floor after that, and every other Floor until we reach the top and the Ruby Palace!
“But it is also why we must trust our companions on the front lines we know. Friendship isn't something we should lose, but gain. Together, as one unified force, we can keep each other safe and drive the filth into the darkest holes of Aincrad where they will stay while we clear the game.
"Now go. Let us make our final preparations for the battle ahead and see it through to victory!"
Cheers went up all around. They could all agree on that.
Doombunny had requested that Soryuto help her after the meeting. Everyone already knew Doombunny and Soryuto were going off on business. Most thought it was a way for Doombunny to do more than get stuck back at the headquarters. Her friends had precious little time for errands and they didn’t need to be keeping an eye on her when they were hastily rushing to get them done. Soryuto routinely went to the Town of Beginnings to assist her friends, so it was easy for everyone to brush it off.
In the town, the two of them stayed together for a bit, but then went their separate ways. Soryuto did not agree with the situation and trusted her. She knew what Doombunny needed to do. Soryuto went off to visit her friends, while Doombunny headed to the church.
The door was opened by a young girl, Akagi, who was only twelve or thirteen years old. However, she looked a lot younger. Sasha was a university student who had taken up caring for the kids trapped in Aincrad, the ones who couldn’t care for themselves. If fear was crippling adults, the youngest kids were obviously not immune. Akagi was one of two dozen or so who Sasha helped out. The church was inexpensive to rent and had everything Sasha needed to take care of the kids.
Doombunny had learned of them and had enlisted their help. They trapped live animals – rats, mice, and such – for Colorra to eat. Colorra needed food, live food, and Doombunny didn’t have time to trap them, or the ability to dedicate a Skill to that. The kids did and Doombunny paid them for what they caught. It was a mutually beneficial trade, one that gave the kids purpose and brought in col for them to rent the church and buy food. Sasha was grateful for the income and purpose it provided.
A few kids were able to fight in the safe hunting locations for col and items. Several more were runners and couriers, carrying messages, items, and supplies from one player to another, so long as they were in a safe zone. It was a good service and provided them with decent pay. More than enough to help out. Still, plenty were unable to do anything. They all had regressed in age due to the fear. They were prepared for an adventure game, for fun, not to be trapped like they were with real stakes. It was something Doombunny understood.
Soryuto and Doombunny met up at the prearranged location and time. Soryuto’s business was always longer than Doombunny’s. Doombunny did not mind. She was just glad to have an ally, an assistant to getting Colorra’s food.
BLADESCAPE: Level 75 — Two-Handed Sword — Searching — Weapon Defense — Leather Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Sprint — Blade Throwing — Extended Weight Carry — Acrobatics
NATORA: Level 71 — Two-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations — Sales Negotiation — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Armor Pierce — Sprint
KNIGHTSTAR: Level 66 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Equipment Appraisal — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Acrobatics — Extended Weight Carry — Armor Pierce
MALUS: Level 70 — One-Handed War Hammer — Heavy Shield — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Extended Weight Carry — Battle Regeneration — Fishing — Search — Martial Arts — Rend
THUNDERBORNE: Level 70 — Rapier — Sprint — Acrobatics — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Armor Pierce — Martial Arts — Blade Throwing
KONPEITO: Level 70 — Two-Handed Axe — Cooking — Weapon Defense — Light Metal Armor — Martial Arts — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Music — Blade Throwing — Bard — Extended Weight Carry
DIEMOND: Level 71 — Mace — Heavy Shield — Sewing — Heavy Metal Armor — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Light Metal Armor Forging — Heavy Metal Armor Forging — Extended Weight Carry — Jewelry Creation
DOOMBUNNY: Level 67 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide — Fighting Spirit — Blade Throwing — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Familiar Cooperation — Mixing — Search — Listen
KIEFER: Level 68 — One-Handed Curved Sword — Slash Weapon Forging — Light Metal Armor — Weapon Defense — First Aid — Katana — Battle Regeneration — Slash Weapon Forging — Blade Throwing
SORYUTO: Level 66 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor — Music — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Fighting Spirit — Armor Pierce — Acrobatics
REISENKI: Level 68 — One-Handed Axe — Heavy Shield — Heavy Metal Armor — Equipment Repair — Metal Equipment Repair — First Aid — Battle Regeneration — Cooking — Metal Refining