More wolves showed up, in droves, attracted by the scent of freshly drawn blood.
Vash continued to offer no assistance as Akira and Kiko valiantly fought on, back-to-back, through the untold hordes..
Without any more gold to use to cast [Love Prices], Akira could only attack with his knife.
"Pick off as many as you can from a distance," he instructed Kiko, "I'll deal with any stragglers that make it through!"
Kiko was like a totally different person. She showed no hesitation, or any signs of her usual timidness, speaking in ferocious battle cries and growls as she used her [Plainwood Bow] to cut down wave after wave of the wolves just as they emerged, mindlessly charging out of the trees, their jaws stretched wide and tongues hanging out from between their drooling gums like fleshy war banners.
It was a slaughter. And with every wolf slain a window would briefly appear, to show a running tally of EXP being acquisitioned:
~~~~~~~~
4x Wolf slain! EXP + 20
5x Wolf slain! EXP + 25 BONUS + 4
10x Wolf slain! EXP + 50 BONUS + 8
12x Wolfs slain! EXP + 60 BONUS + 8
~~~~~~~~
By the end of the encounter, when the monstrous tide had finally abated…Akira and Kiko were barely still standing.
Vash approached them, grinning with pride. "Well done, my pupils. You've passed the first test."
But neither responded: still high on adrenaline, covered in viscera and bite and claw wounds and thoroughly pissed, as they simultaneously faced him with glowering stares.
Both had sustained severe injuries: [Wounds] that could only be treated with [Bandages], and any HP lost recovered through use of healing spells or potions. Vash bid them into his [Homestead], where he sat them on his bed mat to administer [First Aid], whilst repeatedly expressing faint words of praise and encouragement.
The pelts of all the wolves that had lost their lives that day, combined with a few straps of [Cheap Leather] from Vash's personal stash, was enough to craft a fine pair of [Howling Vests].
Although, at what cost?
By squinting their eyes, Akira and Kiko could see a small description window for their hard-fought bounty appear:
~~~~~~~~
Howling Armor
Type: Light
Armor: 3
Description: "The light of the full moon pumps your heart full of courage. Go out and hunt!"
~~~~~~~~
"I hate when games do that," Akira said, shaking his head at the text in the description.
Kiko, who had fallen silent, her face still smeared with blood since the wolf attack, stirred beside him. "Do what?"
"In armor descriptions…when it just gives some useless quote."
"What else is it supposed to say?" There was a hint of agitation in her reply.
Akira was nervous. Fidgety. "No idea. I'm not a game developer. Or a gamer. Anymore."
Kiko rolled her head to the side, casting him a sarcastic glare. Having just played a role in the brutal deaths of two living creatures, she wasn't in the mood for dissecting his ongoing psychosis revolving around video games.
She stormed out of Vash's [Homestead], in a mess of tears.
Turns out gaming isn't nearly as epic when it's your own hands being coated in viscera.
Now Akira was alone with Vash, the latter letting out a huge, satisfied sigh…as he slowly moved to block her only escape. "I believe you owe me a little something."
"You're not serious," Akira said, trying to move around him. But her fat little body was hardly built for optimal maneuverability, as he kept swerving to block all attempts. "Stop!" He wailed. "I need to go make sure she's okay. You just saw what she just had to go through!" No way am I letting this weirdo stare at my goodies…
"Y'know, sensei doesn't encounter a lot of fine-looking ladies in this neck of the woods."
"It's your own damn fault for living here in the first place," Akira spat, standing on her toes to get right in his face. "And if you hate wolves so much, why don't you move somewhere else?"
"Listen. If I lived anywhere else, it'd be something even worse than wolves."
"Why not just"—he gave a sarcastic shrug—"I don't know, live in a town?" Akira pressed. "Why does it have to be out in the wilderness, where wild monsters fall from the sky like fucking candy out of a pinata?"
"Because I'm tracking someone," Vash said, seriously.
Akira calmed a bit, lowering back onto her heels. "Tracking someone, eh? Is it one of your former"—air-quotes—"pupils?"
Vash is unusually melancholic. "No...not a pupil." He tilts his head away. "Much more than that."
Akira was losing his patience at all these cryptic responses, his ears furiously tilting and tail swishing slowly behind his back. "I need to go find Kiko. It's not alright for her to be alone."
Vash shook his head, suddenly smirking. "A deal is a deal, babe—show me what you GOT."
Akira started to back away from him slowly as he drew steadily closer, reaching toward her with anxiously twitching fingers. "No, wait. I…" He bumped into one of the crafting machines. Meaning now, he was cornered. "I'll…up the ante. New deal: I'll let you touch them, too, if you just hold for a while." He feigned a smile. "At least until I've checked on Kiko."
He didn't have much faith in the ploy working. But luckily, Vash was—if anything—a simple beast with simple drives.
"Oh!" He made a face as though he'd just won the jackpot. "Touch them, you say?!"
Moments later Akira flew out of the [Homestead], and quickly found Kiko round the back gazing sadly at the [Howling Vest] in her hand.
"We have to go," he said to her urgently. "That bastard wants to touch my breasts."
Kiko nodded. She wasn't really listening.
"Come on, put on your armor. We have to go before he finds out."
"I'm so hungry…"
"There'll be food where we're going. In Acquama Town."
"Vash-senpai said he could teach us how to fish…"
"Don't call him that!" Akira snapped. "He's not a teacher—he's just a pervert! He probably 'teaches' all the girls who pass through this forest."
Kiko looked at him, and he saw terror in her eyes. "I won't fight again."
"You're still all shook up. I understand that. But that guy is no good, I'm telling you."
"He's strong. I won't ever have to fight again if I stay, Akira-sama."
"Do you really, seriously believe that?"
"Mmm…" she mumbled, holding the [Howling Tunic] close to her mouth. "I'm sorry."
"Kiko, you're an incredible fighter. You don't NEED someone to protect you."
Her breaths became heavy. Panicked. "That person, who killed all those wolves"—she handed the [Howling Tunic] to Akira, voicelessly urging him to take it—"that wasn't me."
~~~~~~~~
Party member has dropped out: Kiko Amagiri!
~~~~~~~~
Equipping armor was a simple task.
It involved just holding the article tightly against one's body, for a period of approximately 5 seconds, during which time a tiny radial clock would appear, floating in the air in front of them,
ticking down an orange bar until it was fully depleted. At which point, the new piece of armor would magically appear on the person's body, as the one being replaced would return to their personal inventory.
To access the personal inventory, one needed to hold out the thumb and index finger of each hand, like opposing corners of a rectangle, then slowly draw them apart.
< Charisma> was a score of one's overall presence, ability to persuade or intimidate others and haggle for better prices at vendors.
< Luck>...well, nobody knew what
Vash had learned all these things and more, from the Wizard Vash. But beyond the basic mechanics of the game, he had also gained a far more valuable shred of insight…
This world was called Nirvana.
It was a world of madness, filled with mad people.
It was also a cruel world: one where only the toughest would survive. The kind of world that doesn't show any mercy to the weak.
Ultimately, Akira couldn't accept Kiko's [Howling Suit] when she tried to give it to him: telling her that she might still need it. That she would most definitely still need it someday, and perhaps sooner than she might think, even if she sought to live a life of peace in this world of madness and cruelty.
Akira had walked for hours before finally stopping to rest. She found shelter beneath the roots of a large, ancient-looking tree, coated in a carpet of vivid green moss.
She'd kept to the main road—also as Vash had taught her—avoiding further wolf encounters.
"I'm so hungry," he groaned, his face contorted in pain as he clutched his aching stomach.
How obnoxiously ironic…
He'd gone from living large, in a Tokyo highrise…
To starving on the side of a road, in the middle of nowhere.
Weren't video games supposed to be the ultimate form of escapism? What a sick joke!
Worst of all…for the first time, since she'd arrived here…
Akira Maximilian was all alone.
"Good grief," he murmured, closing his eyes to drift off into a nap.
"Akira-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Eh?! That voice he heard, calling his name…
It couldn't be—
"Kiko!" He thought for sure he was imagining things when he saw her running down the road toward him, wearing her [Howling Vest].
And she was carrying a stick of charred fried fish!
"I stayed until Vash-senpai taught me the [Fishing] skill, and caught all of these!"
Akira ran up and hugged her. "Kiko! I'm so impressed! You're a genius!"
"I'll fight if I have to. If we're together." Kiki sniffed. "Also, Vash-senpai tried to touch my tush."
Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, they started off down the trail together. Fellow newbies, and friends, and victims of abuse from a Wizard in a position of power.
"You know," Akira mused, "maybe this stupid video game world isn't so awful after all."
~~~~~~~~
Party member has re-enlisted: Kiko Amagiri!
~~~~~~~~