After our first experiences in the virtual world of <Isekai Online>, all I could say was that I was completely overwhelmed by all we'd experienced. From the game's players and world to the abilities we were given in a form of Masteries, I was just amazed that it had managed to perfectly encapsulate the fantasy world that had described in most of Kazuki's novels.
However, even though we could return there anytime, it didn't mean we could ignore real life for it. In fact, the next day after our first log in, Kazuki and I were walking down to the street carrying garbage bags to our trash bin. Needless to say, he hated the smell we had to endure during of our walk.
"Do we have to take out the trash? Why can't Mom or Dad do it?!" Yeah, that's one of the most common complaints I hear when it comes to this chore. Though I can't blame him for it. The odor was excrutiating for me to take in. I almost fainted becaous of it in fact.
"Family rules, Kaz. If we want to earn our free time for the rest of the weekend, we have to split the chores. And since they already took out the trash, it wouldn't it be fair that we be sloths just by ignoring our turn." Considering our mother's short temper when it comes to chores, I knew leaving to hang out with our friends before they were done wasn't our best option. Though now that we have our <VeilCons>, I might've able to cheer him up. "Besides, if we're able to finish them by noon, we may have more time to play <Isekai> this afternoon."
As I expected, Kazuki quickly smiled just by hearing the game's name. Though, I soon regreted this as he quickly became determined and shouted, "Then let's get this bag into the trash bin! Let's go, go, GO!" With that, he quickly left my side and ran full speed to the bin. He'd only played it once and now, he loved the game as much as his novels. Well, guess I can't complain since he was looking forward to it.
----
After spending two hours of getting the chores are done, me and Kazuki logged into <Isekai> once more. This time, entering the game world was different as I ended up with a small headache as we found ourselves on the same bench we were started from yesterday. And judging by Kazu's expression once he appears, he wasn't in great shape either. "You okay, Kaz?"
"Y-Yeah... It's just a vertigo thing..." Yeah, right. Still, it was strange since this was only our second time logging in the game so far. We couldn't have become so nauseated just because of that. "Still, that doesn't mean we have to skip out on our grinding today."
Considering what happened because of the game's launch day, skipping out was not an option, especially when you have a younger brother who just wanted to use magic again. "Well, maybe there's a chance that the chaos died out overnight. We just have to head out to see if they're gone."
"Don't forget, you have to fight some monsters with your [Archery] and [Swordsmanship]. I would like to help you, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to get enough experience to level up as much as me."
I raised my eyebrow just as he explained our plans for today. "What do you mean? Do we have to form some kind of group so we can share the experience?" To be honest, I'd only heard about this usual MMO feature from Zac, but I could remember what the real name of it.
"You mean a 'party'? We could, but you can't get more EXP if we do that. Besides, just because I have the advantage of having a lot knowledge about how the game works doesn't necessesarily mean I have to be higher level than you, Wind. It's wouldn't be fair."
I could see why he thought up with that mindset and it wasn't because he wanted to play solo. "Hey. Me being a newbie in VRMMOs and RPGs doesn't mean I can't be as strong as you. I'm still your older brother and levels don't judge our current standings of respect in here. We all have our flaws and faults, but that's why we are different. Also, just like with age, levels are just numbers, you just have to earn respect by being yourself. Don't act like someone else to get EXP or a reputation."
That is a lot for me to say to Kazu. But I have to make sure he understands that leadership and respect need to be earned through hard work, not through levels and age. That's what my middle school days have taught me. "A-Alright. I understand. I'll work hard to get on the same level as you, Wind!"
That was enough to sweep his insecurities about who's in charge under the. After we recovered from our short sickness, we started walking back to the same fields outside the city.
----
Much to my relief when we arrived at the fields, there were only a few players fighting some slimes and boars, which meany fewer worries for an all-out war for grinding territory. We then exchanged our contacts to form a party before we split up to hunt for some monsters. For Kazu, he went west of the entrance of the city, saying that he would try grinding for slimes once more. As for me, I decided to go east to hunt some kind of animal.
Why animals you might ask? Well, since Kazu mentioned he based the mastery choices to my character, I decided to try hunting one like a real hunter. Also, I did see some monsters that seemed to be based on real animals like boars and rabbits. I figured it would be good for me to take a take a crack at them, especially since Kazu already had some experience with the slimes yesterday.
Thankfully, my search didn't take very long, as I found a boar wandering around the fields. Unfortunately, just seeing it wasn't enough. If I wanted to know it's species, I had to attack to see it. But attacking before thinking wasn't my forte for me. Thankfully, I had another skill that would allow me to figure out its species without attacking.
According to Kazu, it's called [Investigate] and just like its name says, I could focus on the enemy and get some limited information about it. So, making sure I wouldn't turn around, I put two fingers on my right temple and activated it. If I could guess, it somehow changed my eye color as I did so, but considering I was using it, I doubted I could confirm this without a mirror. I took a closer look at the info given to me through my eyes.
[Stout Boar]
[A boar that lives around the plains. Very weak, but newcomers should to beware of its tackle and its horns.]
[HP: 100/100]
A [Stout Boar], huh? Well, it's like many ordinary boars I'd seen on the internet, but the only difference I'd noticed so far was the green streak around their brown fur. Regardless, I decided to choose it as my first target, as I slowly pulled an arrow from my quiver and prepared my bow. Focusing only on the boar, I pulled the string near my other arm's elbow as I made sure to stop shaking from the stress of my muscles. I already knew how hard I had to keep this position, and I couldn't afford mess. With that, I released the arrow and string and then...
THWACK!
My eyes widened as I saw the arrow pierce the boar's body! To be honest, my aim was a little better, but I wasn't confident I could keep my arms steady enought to make a perfect shot. But I guess my training did pay off in the end.
Unfortunately, there was another problem. Namely that the boar noticed me after it roared in pain. This made me a little confused. I'd already hid behind a bush to avoid detection, but yet it had found me anyway I had no time think about it though, as the boar began charged onto me.
I could've used my arrows to finish it off, but with the time I needed to prepare my bow, the boar would have the advantage to tackle me down. However, Kazu had given me another Mastery to use: [Swordsmanship]. I hadn't learn any sword-based arts. But I felt that it was the only option I had right now.
With that, I drew my sword and before it could tackle me down, I quickly blocked its horns with the blade. Looking at my HP, the charge only took 10% of it, but at least I'd managed to block most of the damage. Not only that, it was enough for me to counter the attack as I pushed away and swung my sword to the boar. Unfortunately, it was not enough to kill it as the blow only took 30% damage to its HP. What's more, it was preparing to charge me again.
I couldn't let it have that chance though, as I quickly swing my sword once more just to slash it down. At this point, I was panicking ovew what to do so I tried to calm down. As I dished out my attacks, the boar's HP began to go down very quickly, until finally I swung my sword in a downwards slash, depleting the boar's remaining health as it dropped dead and disappeared.
"At this rate, I won't able to use my bow for fighting..." I muttered as I took a few breaths after defeating the boar. Compared to Kazu, I felt that my Masteries might trouble me more than aiding me in my future fights if I couldn't muster enough strength and concentration towards my target.
"STRIKE!!!"
What the-?! I don't know who said that, but it startled me enough to make drop my bow. Thankfully, I wasn't startled very much, so I turned around and shouted to the mystery person. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
When I saw the source of the loud voice, I saw it was a young teen that seemed to be the same age as me. He even sported a goofy grin. He was wearing body armor made of steel, something one would see in stories of fantasy heroes and medieval knights. He wasn't wearing a helmet, so I could see his red unkempt hair. From the look of it, he might've been a serious warrior like one would see in tabletop RPGs. But his goofy grin made me think otherwise. Still, he reminds me of someone I knew, but I can't place it...
"What? Have you heard of a baseball joke? Besides, I've never seen anyone swing a sword like a bat before. In fact, I've never seen anyone use anything like a bat on any monster in a video game before! Are you trying to be Isekai's first baseball superstar?" I just... frowned. I didn't do anything. Just narrowed my eyes, glared at him, and frown. Not just at his take on my recent actions, but just me being bad at this game. Seriously, we're playing a fantasy MMO, not some sports game!
"No, but I can tell you're not a good comedian. I doubt anyone would be laughing at your jokes right now." Okay, not what I want to say to a stranger who just wanted to be funny. But to tell you the truth, someone had to break it to him sooner or later. Though I was expecting he would growl at me or complain that I was a buzzkill.
But surprisingly, he just shrugged it off and simply grinned. "Eh, I knew that wouldn't tickle your funny bone. Man, the players here just don't get the concept of a joke."
"Maybe you should try focusing on playing the game instead. Isn't that the point?"
"Yeah, yeah... Yeesh, even in Isekai, you are seriously a buzzkill, Hayate."
"Hey, I'm just stating the truth, that's a-"
Huh?
"Hold on a second, what did you call me?" My eyes widened as I stared at the warrior. How in the world did this stranger know my name?
"Come on, for a guy who like to be careful with your identity on the net, you weren't very creative with your avatar's appearance. Besides, you forgot to e-mail those History notes back to me." Notes? When I thought about it, I remembered that someone reminded me last Thursday...
Wait, it couldn't be...
"Z-Zac?! Is that you?!" My eyes widened as I stared at the warrior in shock. I couldn't believe it... Zac Osborne was right in front of me?!
"Correcto-mundo! Sorry if I didn't see you yesterday, there were so many players in here that I had to bail out to avoid server lags." I was surprised. I'd been expecting him to play this game since that's what he'd been bragging about it all year. But I never expected him to see him like this.
I was also surprised at his avatar's appearance. I didn't recognize him at first due to him having curly red hair instead of his normal black slicked hair. Apparently players could change their appearances to the point that their peers couldn't recognize them. "R-Right. Sorry about that, I thought you were another one of those players who harassed us back in Day 1."
"No problem, Hayate. I mean, Wind." I thought I could hear him snickering when he mentioned my in-game name. I was starting to have regrets about it with that. "Jokes and introduction aside, where's your brother? I thought you said you guys were playing together because of the game's rules."
I took a deep breath before I said anything. Besides, I couldn't speak normally if my heart was still beating too fast due to the revelations right in front of me. "We split up to try to gain more EXP for our skills. And since I haven't gotten any alarms from my HUD, I figure he's not too far away from my current location."
As I said this, Zac stared at me as he raised his eyebrow. "Split up? Are you sure he's going to be okay by himself? I mean, this is your younger brother we're talking here."
That's true. But before I can say anything, Zac and I heard something from afar.
"...my staff with this power! [Lightning Bolt]!"
The next thing we knew, we heard a clap of thunder and saw a light from afar. On top of that we also heard inhuman screams. I had no idea what monster Kaz was facing, but I could guess the outcome of the fight.
"Considering he's an RPG freak and the only one in our family who loves video games so much, I wouldn't worry too much." I wanted to ask more questions, but when I saw Zac once more, his worried expression had turned into wide-eyed horror. From what I could tell, he also knew what had just happened as well. Even more so, I was now worried how strong Kaz was in here.
----
Wind's Masteries
[Archery] Level 5
[Woodcrafting] Level 1
[Swordsmanship] Level 6
[Cooking] Level 1
[Wind] Level 5
[Physical Enhancement] Level 1
[Hunting] Level 3
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Kazu's Masteries
[Arcana] Level 5
[Thunder] Level 6
[Wind] Level 5
[Alchemy] Level 4
[Magecrafting] Level 1
[Magical Affinity] Level 3
[Scribe] Level 1