The loud rattle of gunfire crackled thru the air as our fireteam unloaded on a giant mecha boss. It's face shield opened up as it charged a bright beam attack from its single glowing lens.
"Shoot it in the face!" I ordered and everyone focused fire.
Zeliska and I grinded at its HP as Itsuki popped the last of it away with his Dragunov sniper rifle. The glowing lens shattered as the giant robot fell to its knees, rumbling the ground beneath our feet. All power left it's circuits and it collapsed on its face, bursting indefinitely into shards.
"Whew. Had to pick up your slack there, K. You gotta step up your game." Zeliska poked me.
"What?? I had to reload! It's not my fault you wield a PKM!" I pointed out her massive LMG.
"Makes mag dumping easy." Zeliska swooshed her hair with her hand.
"Easy for you two to say. I only have ten bullets per magazine." Itsuki rested his sniper on his shoulder.
"Oh, there's no need to be ashamed, Itsuki. Not everyone is blessed with a big magazine size." Zeliska smirked.
"Haha, very funny." Itsuki's words were empty.
"Let's head back to Glocken. I gotta spend this money on more ammo." I suggested.
"And while we're there, you can treat me to some delicious food." Zeliska winked at me.
"Don't you have your own money?" Itsuki asked as we began to exit the dungeon.
"Hey, butt out." Zeliska addressed him.
We arrived back at Glocken in no time and entered an open gun shop together. Zeliska and Itsuki kept back slightly while I walked up to a screen to make my purchase.
"Ten thousand bullets. That oughta do it." I hit accept and my funds were transferred to the machine.
"Seems like you're wasting a lot of credits on bullets. Ever consider switching guns?" A deep male voice spoke from behind us.
The three of us turned and met a towering man in a dark winter coat with white lined fur on the inside. He wore a brown beret on his head and a small double scar was cut along his closed right eye. He had brown gloves and black boots that were outshined by his jackets red accents.
"I quite like the guns I have, thank you. Bazalt Joe." I crossed my arms.
"Jeez, no need to be so cold. I was only trying to help. Speaking of which, would you guys like some assistance? I'm sure questing won't be as difficult with me at your side." He stood with his fists on his hips.
The three of us all just looked at each other and hesitantly turned back to Joe. I opened my mouth to reply but felt Zeliska take a step closer to me as she leaned in.
"Please don't make us bring him." She whispered in my ear.
I waved her away and looked back at Joe with a smirk.
"Happy to have you aboard." I smiled with a nod.
"What?!" Zeliska and Itsuki questioned.
"I'm sure we could use the extra muscle around. Besides, if all else fails, he can just be our bullet sponge." I took his side and patted him on the shoulder.
"I'll agree with that notion." Itsuki nodded with no hesitation.
"Good enough for me." Zeliska shrugged.
"Excellent. Let's go hunt ourselves a bounty." I smirked and lead the way out of the store.
"Wait, you guys were just kidding about the bullet sponge thing, right?" Bazalt Joe caught up to us.
"Ugh. Bazalt Joe? You let him come along with you?" Kureha interrupted in disgust.
"He isn't all bad. He helped me out in a pinch, that's for sure." I admitted.
"He actually helped?" Zeliska wondered.
"Well, Yeah. I was incapacitated by a sniper and he definitely came to save my bacon." I assured.
"Incapacitated? How did that happen?" Zeliska wondered, not recalling such a time.
"You and Itsuki were on the opposite side of our position when the sniper bullet knocked me down. Bazalt Joe wouldn't leave me behind." I began.
"The others on their way too?" Joe asked as we sprinted thru the ruined city streets.
"They're looping around right side for a wide flank. If we get there quickly, we might be able to-" I felt a bullet pierce my thigh and I suddenly fell forward, collapsing to the ground.
I grunted and rolled over, seeing red shard particles leaking from my now missing leg.
"K!!" Bazalt Joe turned back and swiftly drew his pistol before rushing over to my aid.
"There's a sniper! Get back!" I instructed.
"Not without you." He refused, grabbing the back of my outfit and dragging me along the concrete.
I watched as a projectile suddenly hit the concrete right next to me and I was able to clearly see the red bullet line. With haste, I aimed my assault rifle and began to manually semi auto my gun in order to land many quick shots. I missed the first five bullets but the sixth popped his head instantly as I was pulled behind a fallen truck.
"Sit still, I'll patch you up." Bazalt Joe pulled out a glowing green syringe and injected my thigh.
I winced in pain but watched as the red game grid quickly formed the shape of my leg. It's glowing lines suddenly changed to blue and matter began to rematerialize what was missing. Once it finished at my boot, I wiggled my foot to be sure that it was my real leg and surely enough, I was right back to normal. I was about to pick myself up when Joe offered his hand to help me.
"Thanks, Joe. I owe you one." I took his hand with a nod.
"Don't mention it. Come on! We can still make the ambush if we hurry!" He lifted me up and rushed ahead.
"Right! Let's line em' up and knock em' down!" I sprinted alongside him with my G36C confidently in my hands.
We rounded a corner and watched as three enemy players unloaded their guns on a distant concrete barrier. Zeliska suddenly popped up from behind it and fired a loud shotgun shell towards her aggressors. Before she could readjust her aim, a bullet grazed the side of her neck and she dropped low with a struggling gasp.
"Zeliska!" Itsuki yelled, rushing and sliding to her aid.
"Come on, K! Let's deal some damage!" Bazalt Joe stepped out.
"Right!" I took his side and we both aimed to open fire.
We thought we had them for sure but the enemy players swapped attention while swiftly avoiding our bullet lines. The leftmost player dropped to one knee with their assault rifle and fired one precise shot to Bazalt Joe's hand. The force of the bullet pushed Joe's wrist away and caused him to drop his pistol entirely. I hastily rolled out from behind him and began unloading my 30 round magazine towards our enemies. I watched as concrete dust kicked up just around their feet and they began to try to flee.
"You've done it now..." Bazalt Joe shook his head and abruptly snapped his fingers with an echo.
In the air in front of him fabricated not just one, but two giant LMG's which he caught in both of his hands.
"You don't mess with a man and his pistol!" He shouted and began a massive barrage of insane bullet fire.
With him covering the front, I peeked over to the concrete barrier and worried for Zeliska's draining HP. I heard Itsuki trying to tend to her wounds but she refuted and told him not to.
"It's okay, I can do it myself." Zeliska weakly spoke.
"I'll watch your back while you recover." Itsuki assured her and stood up from behind the barrier.
A shocked expression lit up his face as he saw a fierce looking Bazalt Joe unleashing a blaze of big bad bullets. When the dead icons finally appeared over the enemy corpses heads, Bazalt Joe stopped firing and the barrels of his guns were a smoking hot red. Joe panted heavily and pointed the LMG's down at the ground in his ruthless victory. He turned back to me with a sure smile on his face as his guns disappeared and held up a confident peace sign. A gentle chuckle came from his mouth as he shut his eyes with a wide toothy grin. Suddenly next to us approached Itsuki and Zeliska who had successfully been nursed back to health. She looked around slightly confused but eventually smiled and turned to me.
"Looks like they've been dealt with. Nice work, K." Zeliska praised.
"What?! That was me! I did all that!" Bazalt Joe tried to explain.
"Yeah. Sure you did." Zeliska rolled her eyes.
Itsuki was still dumbfounded that Joe had managed to output so much damage in the first place. I'm sure he didn't think highly of Joe before, but that had definitely gotten his attention.
"So wait, He wasn't lying?" Zeliska was confused.
"He actually did pretty much all the work." I admitted.
"No doubt about it. His demeanour may not be the best, but he is more than exceptional on the battlefield." Itsuki walked in.
"Itsuki!" Everyone greeted in unison.
"You saw it too?" Zeliska was the only one out of the loop.
"You were tending to your wounds when Bazalt Joe went berserk. It was quite the show." Itsuki confirmed.
"Wait, So... He's a force to be reckoned with?" Kureha questioned.
"I wouldn't have wanted to be on the opposite side of his guns, that's for sure. He was actually the one who inspired me to change to pistols in the first place." I explained.
"Really??" Sinon was baffled.
"Oh, absolutely. That was a very impactful day for me." I nodded.
"No kidding! You used to be a terrible shot!" Liz giggled.
"We all start somewhere." I shrugged.
"Ha hey! Guess who's black erryone!" Klein stumbled thru the front entrance.
"Black?" A few of us repeated in confusion.
"He's had a bit too much to drink." Agil came in politely behind him.
"I can see that." Kirito chuckled.
"Ahh, shut yer pretty face, Kirito." Klein waved him away and they both joined us at the table.
"At least the party's finally back." I smirked.
"Damn right! Les keep et goin'!" Klein's bright red face was glowing as he grabbed himself a full wine bottle from the table.
"Jeez, Klein. Take it easy." Leafa tried to slow him down.
"But I don want easy. I want hard mode!" He said clearly and popped the cork, taking many huge gulps straight from the bottle itself.
"Aren't you going to stop him, K?" Kureha thought that I should have a problem with him doing that.
"There's not much that can be said to reason with Klein. He's just as stubborn as Bazalt Joe at times." I remarked.
"Is that so? I bet they'd get along great then." Zeliska giggled.
"I think so too." I smiled with a nod.
"Bazalt who?" Klein pulled the bottle away and wiped his leaking wet mouth.
When he looked at me for an answer, I was suddenly reminded of a task that I was supposed have to attended to earlier. Better late than never, I thought as I found amusement in the current circumstances.
"Hey, Klein? I was wondering about something. Considering you're a proud Salamander Samurai and all, would you be willing to teach Kureha how to properly wield Salamander flame?" I proposed.
"Wait, NOW?!? But he's drunk out of his mind!!" Kureha didn't like this plan.
"Ya bet yer sweet lil ass I will! Come on, Pinkie! Let uncle Klein show ya how iss done." He got up from the table with the bottle and began stumbling to the front doors.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Agil was the first to say.
"I think that we'll find it rather amusing." I chuckled and stood up from my seat.
"I know I will." Kirito smiled at the thought.
"As will I." Itsuki smirked with a hand on his hip.
"But isn't that dangerous?" Asuna didn't want Klein to get out of hand.
"We'll be sure to keep a close eye on him. Besides, Kureha needs to be trained more." I told her.
"Couldn't you have just done it?" Zeliska wondered.
"Different races have different magic. There was a disconnect so we sought out a Salamander player that could help us. Turns out, Klein was just the man for the job." I smirked.
"I don't think I agree with that, but okay." Liz shook her head.
"Regardless, we'll make sure he doesn't burn down the town." I began to lead us all towards the front doors.
A bark suddenly came from behind us and we looked back to see Fenrir and Skoll eagerly wagging their tails as they sat patiently in their places. I peeked over at Zeliska who had Daisy following at her side which made me see why they barked to get our attention.
"Alright, come stretch your legs. But don't get too rowdy." I beckoned and Fenrir came running.
"Come on, Skoll." Sinon patted her legs and the white wolf approached with a trot.
Out the doors we went and at the bottom of the long stone staircase was an imbalanced Klein rubbing his hands together in front of Kureha. The rest of us descended the steps and joined in to witness the teaching lesson. I for one crossed my arms, intrigued as to what kinds of methods Klein might implore considering he's never taught anyone before. Fenrir briefly barked and I looked to see him wagging his tail just before an adjacent field.
"That's perfect, Buddy. Have at er'." I allowed and he sprinted away immediately.
Skoll barked in response and chased after Fenrir with utmost haste. They both disappeared into the tall grassy plains but we knew they wouldn't go too far. Daisy hesitantly lifted a paw and watched as they left but she ultimately looked over to Zeliska before doing anything drastic.
"Do as you'd like, Daisy. Mamma won't stop you." Zeliska referred to herself but Daisy chose to lay down right next to her anyways.
"Arright, So tha first thing yu'll need ta know is how ta cast fire in tha first place." Klein downed the last of the wine bottle and threw it away with a loud smash.
He rubbed his hands together and held his palms out in front of him but hesitated when he finally went to cast.
"W-wait... how do I do this again? Oh ya!" Klein sloppily adjusted his foot placement and took a large breath in.
"Fire style, fireball Jutsu!" He pushed hard but nothing came from his hands.
Silence filled the air and Kureha face palmed loudly as she shook her head.
"Huh? That wasn't it. Hold on..." Klein scratched the top of his head and readjusted his whole stance.
"He doesn't even remember the spell." Liz whispered to the group with a giggle.
"Elduur... Tangii!" He yelled and his hands formed a katana made purely of bright red Salamander flame.
"Woooow!" Leafa was amazed.
"See? Simple as that." Klein's face was still bright red as he gripped the curved sword of fire.
"That second word you used. What was it?" Kureha wanted to know.
"Iunno. Tha special word dat means sword." He shrugged.
"You can't be serious..." Itsuki hung his head and shook it, unimpressed by Klein's lack of knowledge.
"I see. And if I want to cast other weapons, I'll need to learn their words?" Kureha peeked back at me to confirm.
"Precisely. More words, more power." I explained.
"Perfect. I got this now." Kureha got serious and had a determined look on her face as she focused her vision ahead.
I cracked a proud smile as she took the correct stance and inhaled a deep calm breath before readying her hands to cast.
"Think she can do it?" Sinon took my side and asked.
"Totally." I nodded.
"El, duur... Tangii!" She yelled and clapped her hands together, creating a large flaming greatsword that formed within her grasp.
"Woah! That's amazing, Kureha!" Asuna cheered.
"I... can't-" She struggled to speak when her fire suddenly disappeared.
She looked at her palms and panted as beads of sweat leaked down her face.
"Well done, Kureha. You're well on your way to mastering conjuration magic." I approved with a round of applause.
"No doubt! Your sword was bigger than Klein's!" Kirito chuckled.
"Yeah? Well maybe I'm jus a grower and not a shower!" Klein drunkenly answered.
"I couldn't keep it stable..." Kureha sounded ashamed.
"Don't beat yourself up, Kureha. You casted the spell successfully, did you not?" I walked up and put a hand on her shoulder.
She looked suddenly up to my eyes and shyly turned her gaze back down to the ground.
"Yeah. I suppose I did really cast it." She admitted.
"You worry too much. Come on, let's end off the day with a fun night together." I beckoned as I started walking slowly back towards the Ziggurat.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Liz agreed.
"As long as we get to drink!" Klein cheered.
"I think you've about had enough." Agil tried to convince him.
"Eff that noise! Imma drink till I drop!" Klein yelled in response.
"He might be even more stubborn than Bazalt Joe." Zeliska pointed out.
"That wouldn't surprise me." I agreed and we all entered my royal quarters again.
I allowed the group inside before me and I whistled loudly from the top of the tall staircase. In an instant, I saw Fenrir and Skoll come running from the tall grassy field they were just playing in. They rushed right up the steps to me and I kept the doors open for them to go inside. Another successful day with the ones I cared dearly for filled me with joy as I shut the entrance behind me. It couldn't get much better than this, I thought.