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Shining Blade
StarDust Café

Part II

Vane frowned. “Why didn’t you tell us you were here all along?” she shook her head at him.

“Well, you all seemed to be doing alright, so I figured I’d let you all level up a bit and then just pop up sometime.” Darth admitted, adjusting the collar of his outfit.

Vane and coff looked at him. “What class are you?” They asked in unison.

“Hm?” Darth cocked an eyebrow. “I’m a Rogue/Mercenary.”

“Rogue/Mercenary!?” Miso asked, surprised. “The better question then is what level are you?”

Darth smiled sheepishly. “Twenty.”

“You’re level twenty already?” Star raged.

“Well… Yes.” Darth laughed. “tell you what. How about I make it up to you by taking you to a special dungeon?”

~~~Cave of the Fallen (Level 1-5 Recommended)~~~

Navigating the Cave of the fallen was not hard; The cave had thin, lava-like veins that ran in the direction that lead to the end of the dungeon. Aslong as the followed the reddish glow, they’d be fine.

It had been a long, quiet walk.

Suddenly, Darth stopped, looking over his shoulder. Vane wondered what he was looking at. Was there some kind of marker she wasn’t aware of? Miso shifted uncomfortably too. The lava-glow was reflecting off his armor, and while the rest of them at least were only moderately obvious, his armor made him a glowing target.

Darth suddenly motioned to a lesser path. There was nothing to light the way.

“This one.”He nodded. “Let’s go.”

“There’s no light.” Star scowled. “How are we going to see?” Darth struck a match, and lit a lantern.

“I bought one at the store.” Darth teased. “What’s your guys excuses?”

Vane and Coff exchanged looks and Miso blanched. “It looked like a useless item to me!” Miso said truthfully.

“Yeah.” Darth nodded. “The first time I came here, thought so too. But then someone showed me this.”

Suddenly, There was a loud ‘Oooph’. Suddenly, everyone had stopped. “What happened?” Vane whispered.

“Darth ran into a rock.” Miso snorted.

“It’s not a rock.” Darth shook his head. “It’s a door. Hold on a minute.” Darth carefully reached into a pouch. Vane had no idea where it had come from. Perhaps it was the same kind that mysteriously appeared or disappeared to hold their gold?

He pulled out a small device that looked like a knife, and a vial of neon blue liquid. “Alright, hold on.” He carefully poured the liquid onto the blade of the knife, and then waited patiently until the blade of the knife itself was a bright blue. Then he carefully slid it into the rock.
The rock wall made a loud clunk, as if a lock had been opened, and suddenly sprang open so fast Darth had to leap out of the way.

“There ya go.” He nodded, satisfied. This will take us to a special room. “He nodded.

With that, he stepped into the black abyss of the door.

~~~Chamber of Penance Levels: ???-??? Recommended.)~~~
Vane was last to step through, but when she finally emerged from the darkness, she was surprised what she saw; it was another room with the same laval-like lights, albeit now they formed a circle on the floor.

More peculiar, was what floated lazily in circuits over the floor.

Three men and two women, each with impeccable blond hair, and dressed in flowing white robes. Enormous, billowing white wings held them aloft.

“Woah!” Vane gasped. “What are they?”

“They look like Angels!” Coff said amazed.

“I’ve never seen or heard of them before.” Miso said, rubbing his chin.

“Is this some kind of glitch?” Star asked, confused.

“Nope.”Darth shook his head and drew a long, black sword. “They’re a secret part of the dungeon. Only those who know how can access them.” He nodded. “We can each only take one. Aslong as you keep attacking it, You should be able to defeat it. They aren’t worth much gold, but they’re worth a lot of EXP. Don’t gang up on them. If you do, they’ll disappear.”
Darth targeted the furthest angel and charged forward, and slashed at a medium height angel with short, shaggy blond hair. “Hmph!” The angel threw up its hands and drifted back a bit from the attack. It had only taken 50 damage. Darth’s expertise as a rogue showed. His attack speed was extremely fast. He chained three more slashes in about a minutes time.

Miso proved that Paladin’s have a different approach. His first stroke did around 50 damage, and albeit that his next swing was slower, if Darth had been attacking the angels at Miso’s level, He would’ve been dealing 5’s!

Star Targetted the nearest one and sent a scalding fire spell right at it, Dealing good damage herself, as coff fired arrow after continuous arrow into her angel.

Vane approached hers and cast a buff on herself, And swatted it harshly with her staff. With the buff active she dealt around 45 damage. Not bad. She continued this process until she started to get the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

Darth seemed to be enjoying himself, dealing good damage.

“Hey…Guys?” Vane asked.

“Just keep attacking them! If you need to heal go ahead, but if you attack continuously, they won’t be able to hit back!”

“Uhm… Darth?” Vane called again.

“I can’t help you team up on them!” Darth called. “You know that!”

“Darth!”

Darth finished his angel, and turned.

Vane was being held, a sword blade to her neck. A tall man with short blonde hair and a long black coat stood behind her. He had weapons telekinetically prepared to get rid of all of them, Coff, miso, and Star. And his gloved hand snaked up to stroke her cheek. “Such a shame.” The man whispered.

Then they all moved. Miso hit the ground first, and coff and star at the same time. Vane was given just long enough to shriek before she dropped aswell.

The man grinned. He stooped over Vane, peering down at her. “Remember this well… My name is Erebus, the level 15 Multi-weapon. Goodbye.”

And with that, The four others disappeared, leaving Darth alone with this black coated man.

Shining Blade
StarDust Café


Part IV


Vane hesitated. “I don’t think I want to come out.” She whispered.

“C’mon.” Miso sighed. “We should do some more quests. Just come on out.”

Vane stepped out of the Dressing room. Her new outfit that she’d won from the gravedigger was far different then her default one. The top seemed to focus exclusively on covering certain aspects of her chest, and then not covering…

…

Well, everything else. She felt awkward, as around her collar and her navel were exposed. The skirt was normal enough, though relatively short with longer patches of material meant to deceive anyone who’d try and attack a healer by concealing her movements. It also had a cloak with a hood, though she didn’t bother to put the hood up.

Miso snickered. “Wow. Looks like that Armor will keep you relatively safe. “He teased.
“Hey!” Vane frowned.
“Yeah.” Coff laughed. “You might get a critical hit- from the breeze!”
“Hey!” Vane scowled. “That’s not funny.” She said, looking away. “Especially because it actually does give a really good boost in defense…”

“Seriously!?” Miso asked, incredulously. “That isn’t effective armor… That’s not even armor!”

“Just drop it, okay!?” Vane asked, confused. “It’s stupid. Talking about this armor is stupid… let’s just… let’s just go.” She sighed.

“Yeah, That’s a good idea.” Star nodded. “Standing around here admiring Vane’s armor isn’t really doing much for us. Miso, go look for quests we can do.”

“Wha- But I wasn’t admire-“
“Go find quests, Miso!”

“Bah.” He shook his head. “Fine. I’ll be right back.”

Star looked at Vane carefully. “Have you heard from Darth?”

“No.” Vane answered immediately. “Not a word.”

“Hmm.” Star looked around. “If he’d been incapped, we’d have seen him. If he’s still alive, then he’d have sent a message. Hmmm.”

~~~Meanwhile~~~

Darth stumbled quietly, and then activated his ‘Vanish’ skill.

He couldn’t hold it long, but he would need it. This dungeon he’d been stranded in was not much of a challenge; the mosnters were all low-level, but they spawned in enormous hoardes that could easily overpower him.

*Vane?* He sent a whisper again, as he enared the exit. His vanish deactivated, and he had to duck behind a column to avoid three passing Hellhounds.

“Ugh. This is ridiculous.” Darth sighed and shook his head.

“Oh, look what we have here.”

Darth turned slowly. Erebus stood behind him, with five weapons now slowly rotating around him. His level now read as 17. Three other characters stood on either side of him.

“That’s impossible. You were fifteen when I fought you. And I killed you!”

Erebus raised the sword in his right hand. “I got better.”

“Ah… I see…”Darth hesitated. “Then I should run.”

And with that, he dashed from the dungeon.

~~~Back at the tavern.~~~

Miso returned after a few minutes. “There’s not many we can do at our current levels, without Misa’s help, and since she had something to do…”He sighed and shook his head.

Vane rubbed her head. “Well…That’s bad design. Shouldn’t there be lots of easy quests for low levels?”

“One would think…”Coff muttered.

“Well…”Star said after a moment . “We could see what there is to grind for EXP, but that doesn’t seem particularly entertaining.”

However, suddenly, Darth ran up to them. “Oh hey guys.” He siad, breathing heavily. “You should… You should run now.”

“What?” Coff asked. “Why?”
“That’s why.” He pointed, and Erebus was approaching. Three other characters stood on either side of him. Two were male, wearing all black with the exception of Bandages covering his chest.He had short blue hair, and scowled darkly at them. He was wielding a large Axe. Another man stood just behind him, A man in heavy black armor, a heavy broadsword was strung across his back.

Finally, a young woman stood on Erebus’ other side, carrying a long Katana. She was dressed almost identically to Erebus.

“Oh.” Miso paled. “That’s not good.”

The man in black armor approached and swung his blade down at Miso. The man was a high enough level that even blocking, Miso skidded back a bit at the force.

The man with blue hair lunged, knocking Star one way with his giant axe, and coff another. “Hmph.”He snorted.

The girl moved with lightning speed towards Vane, and attacked. Vane managed to shift her staff into a blocking position, but the blow still hurt. “Ouch. This is ridiculous. We can’t do anything against them. They’re too high level.”

“Oh.” Darth said. “Oh right. I’ve got something for you guys-“ He was cut off when he had to duck and dodge away from Erebus’ weapons, as all of them attacked him at once. “Yeesh man, when do you give up!? Didn’t I stomp you once already?” Darth sighed. “Miso, Catch!” He grabbed one of the Feathers, and tossed it to Miso.

“Huh?” Miso asked, bashing the hilt of his sword into the black armored mans helmet. He caught the feather smoothly. “Do I just… use it-“ he asked, activating it. Instantly he was bathed in a white glow. “Woah! I’m level seventeen now!” He turned and slashed the Black Knight, and this time, the Knight began to backpedal.

“Coff?” Darth pivotted under one of Erebus’ swords and threw a feather to her.

“So this will make us ten levels higher? Cool!” She asked and activated, and got to a good firing distance, and then notched several arrows, firing them in rapid succession at the blue haired man.

“Yeah. Star?” he asked, and punched Erebus smoothly in the face, before backflipping to a safer position, and tossed her a feather.

“ugh.” She stood up slowly, and then activated the feather. “Hm. Guess I’ll try that new spell then. “ She said and raised her staff. Suddenly, a black sphere appeared around the Blue haired man, and he collapsed with a gasp.

“Vane? Are you alright?” Darth asked, before getting hit upside the face with the blunt edge of an axe. “Ooph.”

Vane did seem fine, albeit trying to get away from the woman, who was relentlessly attacking her.

“Now’s not the time for this, Vane, Catch!”

She still didn’t aknowledge him, but did shift, and grabbed the feather where it landed, barely two feet from her. However, The girl was still pressing the attack. “You’re hopeless against the power of Nyx and Erebus!” She sneered.

Vane blinked. “Oh really? Because no matter how powerful you are, I don’t think it will rescue from-“ She shifted her staff and bashed Nyx harshly across the face. “Unconsciousness.”

Miso slashed the Black Knight one more time, and he finally crumbled-

-however, suddenly one of Erebus’ weapons came flying at him, and knocked the blade from his hands, and knocked Miso to the ground.

Another scythe came flying from Erebus’ weapons and stabbed through Coff’s quiver, leaving her without anything to fire.

Two more promptly knkocked Vane and Star flat aswell.

And soon, Darth was looking pretty wounded aswell.

“Heh!” Erebus laughed. “Being a multi-weapon makes me infinitely powerful!” He laughed, and approached, prepared to finish each of them in due time.

“Well…” Darth said carefully, closest to Vane and Star. “What do we have plan-wise?”

“Nothing. “Star scowled. “We’re disarmed. What are we going to do? The Debuff for disarmed hasn’t worn off yet.”

Vane sighed. “All I’ve got is that stupid dagger.” She frowned and shook her head. “And I can’t even-“ and then she was holding it.

“Vane can equip daggers?” Miso balked. “ridiculous! Healers don’t use bladed weapons!”

Vane forced herself to her feet just as Erebus knocked Darth away. The knife sank in deep, and Erebus shrieked.

“What the-? What ridiculous damage!” Erebus scowled and turned swiftly, and attempting to knock Vane away, even though she had already backpedalled. He deftly blocked Darth’s attack, and swung, giving darth a shallow cut from lrom his left shoulder to his stomach.

Vane lunged again, hoping to get in a quick hit-

When Erebus grabbed Darth and pulled him infront of her; using him as a shield.

The blade moved to plunge into Darth; a killing blow.

Except instead, it glowwed a hazy green, and merely slid past the grombies skin.

Vane moved to retreat, but she didn’t need to worry. Suddenly, Darth had elbowed Erebus in the face.

“Ooph… What the-?” Erebus gasped, struggling to regain his balance, as both Darth and Vane closed in for the kill.

“The dagger…” Coff said slowly.

“Deals damage to enemies…” Miso continued.

“And uses that damage to heal allies?” Star said confused.

“It’s a Legendary Weapon!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Erebus yelled madly, his swords spinning about him in a deadly shield. “They’ll still lose all the same… I’ll never let them defeat me.”

Then the ground shook. Everyone stopped, even Erebus, to look around.

“What the hell was that!?” Erebus and Darth shouted at the same time.

“That doesn’t seem normal…” Star said nervously.

“No, That’s a very bad sign.” Came a new voice. A tall man in a suit walked past Darth and Vane, and held up his hand. “That’s quite enough from you.”

Every single one of Erebus’ weapons stopped moving. “Wh-…what!? What did you do!?” Erebus screamed.

“My power.” The Newcomer said, and motioned. Slowly, several dark, shadowy figures became visible, each holding one of Erebus’ weapons in place. “My name is Apoplexic.” He scowled. “But you are beneath my notice. My minions will deal with you.”

Four more shadowwy figures materialized on either sade of Erebus and began to grab at him, pulling him to the ground, even as the ones holding his weapons disappeared.

“Apop huh?”
“Can I call you Lexi?”

Lexi shook his head slowly and motioned towards the tavern. “There’s no time, I’m afraid. We must discuss that earthquake.”

“The earthquake?” Miso said quietly. “Why? Wasn’t it just a random occurrence, nothing more?”

“No.” Lexi frowned. “It’s a sign. It’s a sign that he has awakened…”

~PART IV;Introducing Apoplexic; Level 20 Shadowmancer Concluded~
~TO BE CONTINUED IN PART V~

Shining Blade
StarDust Café


Part VI

“Oh?” Said Miso, positioning himself infront of the spider, and off to the right of the group.

“Me? Why I’m the Mirage, of course.” He smirked. “One of the few who will help you defeat Chernobog. I came to help you. Train, of course.”The young man smiled sheepishly.

“Why would we need your help training?” Coff asked, confused.

“Why, because we’re going to kill the Nepti.” The young man smirked.

“A Nepti!?” Darth asked, stunned. “That creatures level 80! None of us here are higher than level 22!”

“You…You don’t get it, do you?” The man smirked. “I’m the Mirage.”

“Your point being…?” Vane asked incredulously. “That doesn’t really…change much of anything…”

He laughed and shook his head. “You really don’t get it. We -have- to defeat Chernobog! It’s a gimmick in the code! Aslong as Chernobog exists, we -will- defeat him! Which means, we cannot die! C’mon!”

The man laughed and lead them out of the dungeon, and to the second tier city, ‘Caritara (Level 20 +)’ He did not let them stop for supplies, but kept moving, heading straight for the mountain further ahead.

“This is stupid. “Darth whispered to Miso. “There’s no way that’s how it works.”

“Well…”Miso said, as they approached a monolithic construction at the base of the Mountain, with a glowing sigil adorned on it. “Let’s just…see if he’s right, and if he’s not, then we’ll deal.”

Darth shook his head, as the young man reached out and brushed the sigil. “You don’t understand. The Nepti is one of the most difficult monsters in the game.” Darth shook his head. “Because its so high leveled, and there’s a penalty for losing to it; Your character is deleted! No one’s even fought it yet! I mean granted, some high-level characters can do it too… but…”

In a flash of bright white light, they found themselves in a large, circular tower.

“Oh.” Coff said, having heard Darth. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Not good at all.” Star said, trying to make herself small.

The Nepti entered from a gate on the far side of the room. It was enormous, towering to the point where its knee was somewhat higher than the Tip of Miso’s helmet. It had a large, elongated wolf-man type look, with a loping stride and long thin arms. In its right hand it clutched what appeared to be a crude club.

It peered down at them with dark eyes and opened its mouth; a gaping void with row upon row of misshapen teeth, and let out a deafening roar.

“Apop?” miso asked, sending a tell, though loud enough for the others to hear. “Can you run a check? See if this guys really ‘The Mirage’?”

Apop’s voice came back almost immediately. “It’s confirmed; He is ‘The Mirage’. Where are you guys? I can’t pick you up, anywhere…?”

“Oh…”Darth muttered. “Just…you know. In big trouble.”

Coff raised and strung her bow. “Well, I’m not going down without a fight.” She fried at the monsters face, though before the arrows could hit, the beast raised a hand to block the arrows.

Darth sighed, but lunged at the same time as Miso, both of them slashing at the beasts legs; the only problem was that their levels were too low; their weapons barely scraped the creatures skin.

Star raised her hands and pointed at the creature. “Dark void!” Star shouted. The black sphere from before appeared around the creatures chest, and slashes and cuts appeared to appear across its chest, but it seemed unfazed even by this. A few arrows lodged themselves in the wounds, but were otherwise ineffective.

Vane frowned. Just buffing was not going to help. She drew the dagger. “I hope this does some good…”She sighed, and lashed out, closing the distance and plunging the dagger into the Nepti’s knee.

The creature let out a shriek that caused the whole building to shake, and flailed, its club hitting the walls of the tower with enough force to send brick and mortar spiralling towards the ground.

“Hmph. Let’s go.” The Mirage smirked.

It was then that everyone realized that there was -four- of him. Each walked slowly towards the Nepti, which glared angrily at each in turn, and then raised its club, and slammed it on the nearest copy.

It faded away, and the three remaining ‘Mirages’ continued their slow approach, almost close enough to touch the Nepti. It shrieked and brought its club down again ,but this was just a copy as well, and faded shortly after being smashed.

Suddenly, the left-most of the two copies suddenly drew a long Katana and lunged, plunging the blade into the Nepti’s arm. “Hah!” He laughed, making careful slashes in its arm, causing it to swing its good arm back and forth, attempting to knock him away. The remaining Copy disappeared.

Even with this ‘advantage’, ‘The Mirage’ was still doing minimal damage.

“This is ridiculous…”Darth muttered, as everyone regrouped, watching ‘The Mirage’ ride the Nepti. “We’re not making any progress at all.”

“I told you guys!” The mirage shouted from the creatures shoulder, driving his blade into its neck. “We’re the one’s who are meant to kill Chernobog! We can’t di-“

He was cut off, when he was suddenly batted from the creatures shoulder. The creature made a mocking noise somewhat akin to a laugh, as ‘The Mirage’ hit the wall with enough force to make an impression of his sprawled form in the bricks. He fell to the ground, about six feet from the Nepti.

“Augh…” The Mirage said groggily, in critical health. “That didn’t go right…”

The Nepti was leering down at him, and raised its club.

“N-no, no no-!” The Mirage drowned the tower in yelps of ‘No!’ just before the Nepti’s club smashed him like a bug.

“Oooh!” Darth and Miso cringed in unison. “Yikes.”
“I don’t think he was quite as immortal as he thought he was…” Vane mumbled.

“Guys? What Happened?” Apop’s voice came over the message system. “One of you disappeared from the list who is going to defeat Chernobog…’The Mirage’?”

“Yeah…”Darth said, watching the Nepti spot the group of them, huddled in the corner, and lifted its club. “I think we know why.”

“Well, Now we know that list can uh… remove us, if need be…” Coff said quietly. “
But we need a way out of this, so we aren’t removed!” Star yelped.
The Nepti approached, hefting its club; The bulk of it was large enough that one swing could easily smash the group of them!

“This didn’t go how I had expected it to, guys-“ Miso admitted quietly.
“I know what you mean.” Darth nodded.
“Sayonara, guys.”

The Nepti made sure everyone was still in position, and brought its club down, putting some extra force behind it, making sure this impact made a nice Boom! with its smashed users!

“No!” Coff and Star screamed.

Except, the club never reached them.

“What?” Darth asked quietly.

The Nepti stood frozen above them, a look of dismay on its face. “I don’t get it…”Vane asked. “What happened?”

Then, a number of things happened at once; First, the wall behind the Nepti exploded, gushing in fire and wind from outside. Bricks slammed against the Nepti’s back and fell all across the tower.

Secondly, Long, thick cuts began to appear across the Nepti’s body. These buts seems to spread all the way around, until the Nepti promptly fell apart, its limbs falling away first, and then the body collapsing shortly after.

And thirdly, mere moments after the Nepti had collapsed, a figured appeared in the doorway.

A rugged man with short, messy dark hair. He was dressed in what appeared to be a cloth training outfit, with armor strapped on to sections; A pauldron on his left shoulder, gauntlets on his hand and greaves on his feet. He was carrying a longsword, with a wicked looking blade, and an extended handle, making it look like a cross between a short lance and a long sword. His eyes glowed an angry red, and even seemed to produce an aura that was burning the air in front of them.

His stats displayed ‘Zaine Level 100 Hellbringer.’

And he was giving off the impression that he was not on their side…

Shining Blade
StarDust Café


Part VIII

Everyone took a three day break after Darth’s data was damaged. Apop, from his own reports, had not made much progress; being wounded by a weapon that was destined to fade had ruined darths data- it might well even be irreparable.

But at the beginning of the fourth day, Vane had decided she was going to get back on.

She found Star and Miso already there.

“I’m level twenty now!” Star cheered. “And low and behold, when I class-extended to Sage, guess what title I unlocked? Hellfire Mage!” She laughed.

“Oh? I see.” Vane smiled at the excited girl, nodding. “Congratulations.”

“I’ve been training with this.” Miso nodded, holding up Zaine’s weapon. “From what I can tell, it’s my key to defeating Chernobog. It’s a legendary weapon, like your dagger.”

“Like my dagger?” Vane asked, and drew the dagger she had received on that mission with Misa, and examined it. “Is it? What does that thing do?”

Miso paused. “Well, from what I gather, it’s called Deathstroke; It deals damage, and then has an almost 50% Chance to open a secondary cut after the first; The second cut can deal almost double the damage, and continues to drain a small amount of health over time.” He raised the weapon over his head, and then twirled it smoothly. “Thus far, I’ve made mincemeat of several enemies that were almost thirty levels higher than me.”

“Really?” Vane asked. “That’s very impressive! But you haven’t reached level twenty?”

“Er… well…yeah…” Miso rubbed his head. “That’s the thing; See, This particular weapon has a penalty for being so exceedingly powerful.”

“Oh.” Vane nodded, smiling. “That makes sense. What’s the penalty?”

“It reduces the Experience points I get by 66%.” Miso sighed. “I’m level nineteen though. Just a bit more, and I’ll be level twenty.”

“Oh? Well Coff’s going to get on here soon, so should we look for a powerful boss to take on? With your legendary weapon, my Dagger, and the spells Star has learned, we should be able to take on about anything.”

“That’s a good idea.” Miso nodded, waving to Coff as she logged in. “But what to take on... Surely we don’t want to try the Nepti again?”

“After what it did to that ‘Mirage’ guy!?” Coff gasped. “No way! No matter what we have, we should never risk that!”

“Yeah… I’m not sure if I like that idea either.” Star agreed.

“Is there anything closer to our level?” Vane said. “I mean, the Nepti was closer to level 100. Is there anything level sixty?”

“Well…” Miso considered for a moment. “Actually, I think there is. In one of the dungeons, there’s a monster called the ‘Triple-blade.’ It’s supposed to be level sixty, and gives a lot of experience.”

“Sounds good to me.” Coff nodded.

“’Triple-blade?” Star sighed, facepalming. “Sounds like ‘Tri-Edge’ to me…”

“What?” Vane asked, confused.

“Oh, nothing.” Star laughed. “Let’s go, shall we?”

~~~Lair of ‘Triple-Blade’; The Valley of Swords. (Level 60 Recommended.)~~~

“Well this place is…interesting.” Vane said, shying away from the blade of a sword that was about to stab her.

The foliage in the ‘Valley of Swords’ appeared to have had the leaves replaced with blades; The bushes all had a layered array of sharp points stretching from them. The tree’s were designed off palm trees, with those leaves being just as sharp, but perched high atop the tree.

“Only in a video game, would someone be this demented. “ Coff sighed. “Sword-plants. Please!”

Star laughed. “It does seem pretty lame.” Star looked around. “Granted, this place is huge. I wonder how many people just give up…“

Star was right; as far as they could see, it was just a wide open maze of trees and bushes; no visible landmark available that would denote a ‘BOSS HERE’ Type location.

“Well… this will be interesting.” Vane sighed. “We’re going to have to find the boss.”

Miso blinked. “Well they did mention that ‘Triple Blade’ might be a bit difficult to find.” He glanced around. “Let’s go….this way, shall we?” He motioned down a path behind them. “I get the feeling that forward is the way they’d expect us to go.”

“Well…”Vane sighed. “It’s a good a way to start as any.”

They trudged through the blade-plants for hours. This was definitely a dungeon; finding the boss was slow torture!

“Hey, look at that!” Coff said, pointing into a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a silver pedestal.

“Weird.” Star said as the group approached it. She eyed it skeptically. “It’s somewhat out of place…isn’t it?” she reached out, and just as she was about to touch it, the pedestal rippled, separating into individual pieces that became a small almost human shape, albeit covered in blades.

“Yikes!” Star said, and twirled her staff, and pointed it at the creature. Before it could react, It burst into fierce flames and melted into a pool of silver goo.

“Oh. That was pretty cool.” Coff complimented.

“Thanks!” Star nodded. “So we know the pedestals summon monsters. Do we need to find a certain pedestal?”

“Perhaps.” Vane nodded. “But somehow, I get the feeling the boss we’re looking for won’t be transforming out of a pedestal.”

And after about an hour more of searching and several more encounters with those creatures, it was starting to seem like they might never find Triple-blade.

“Wait.” Coff said, pointing a bit further down the path. “Was that there before?”

A huge, black swirling Vortex had appeared in the ground of that particular clearing.

“Now that, looks like the way to a boss.” Vane smirked.

The group approached, and immediately, the vortex began to draw them in, until they found themselves in a huge, white room.

“Is this room untextured?” Star asked, confused. “That doesn’t look good at all…”

“That is strange...” Miso admitted.

In a burst of black energy, a tall figure stood in front of them. He was taller than the average player-character, and held short swords in each hand. A stretched, twisted looking wing sprouted from his back.

“Triple-Blade?” Vane asked. “But-“

Suddenly, the wing like appendage grew a wicked curved balde and twisted around, suddenly appearing as more of a scythe than a wing.

“Yikes.” Coff mumbled. “That’s kinda creepy.”

He twisted the scythe-wing around himself and readied the short swords, swinging all three at the same time.

“Move!” Vane shrieked, diving away as his blades cut through the air where the group had been standing.

Miso twirled Zaine’s sword as he dodged around Triple-Blades strike. “He lunged, stabbing Triple edge in the back. The blade sank deep, but Triple-Blade merely turned, scowling at Miso, and his Scythe wing swung with murderous intent; Straight for Miso’s neck.

Miso ducked under the blade and ripped his weapon from Triple Blades back, just as an arrow struck The bosses shoulder.

It re-focused its attention on Coff.

“Oops…”Coff blanched, standing a few feet away, bow in hand, with Star just behind her. “Star? Can you hurry up on that spell?”

Star frowned as a spell circle appeared on the ground around her. “I’m trying.” She sighed.

“Well hurry, please!” Coff gasped, firing another arrow as Triple-Blade charged directly at them.

Vane frowned, trying to run up behind him. “Of course.” She sighed, struggling to keep up. “He had to have already targeted them…” She drew her dagger, and plunged it into Triple-Blades back. It only gave him a seconds pause. He was determined to slice Coff and Star to pieces.

“Now!” Star yelled. Coff dove out of the way, and the spell circle flew from beneath Star, and along the ground until it reached where Triple-Blade was charging-

-and burst into an enormous column of flames.

“Woah.” Coff gasped. “I think you got him.”

“Yeah that was…impressive…” Vane admitted as the column began to die down.

But the feral screech that roared from the dying flames stifled their banter; Triple-Blade, singed and burnt stumbled from the circle, still moving slowly towards Coff and Star.

“I got him…” Miso frowned twirling Zaine’s sword and slashed across Triple-Blades back. The cut dealt good damage, and then another, glowing cut opened along the original, and with one final gasp, Triple-Blade dropped to the ground.

The chest popped up right where he was laying.

“Gold.” Miso reported immediately. “Yippee.”

“I leveled up!” Vane and Coff said in unison. “I’m going to go class extend!”

It was Vane who returned first; her outfit hadn’t changed, and she was still using the dagger. “Guess who unlocked the title ‘The Scale’s Shadow!’ “She laughed.

“I see.” Miso nodded. “So Coff must have unlocked the title ‘The Armored Beast’, right?”

“Actually- “ Coff began, returning in a long coat, with two pistols holstered at her sides.

However, she was interrupted by Apop. “Hey.” He greeted over Tell messaging. “You all need to come back to HQ….You need to…See Darth…”

“Oh?” Vane asked. “Is he alright?”

“Just head this way.” Apop sighed, and then ceased messaging.

“Gee, that was helpful.” Miso teased sarcastically. “Guess we’d better go.”

They were working their way towards the Headquarters when Miso remembered what he meant to ask: “Oh yeah!” He laughed. “Coff, What title did you unlock?”

“Well I-“ Coff was once again interrupted; though this time, it was by an axe falling mere centimeters in front of her face.

“Where is he?” Erebus growled. The multi-weapon looked frustrated, and tired, albeit he was level twenty as well.

“Where’s who?” Miso asked. “Darth? He’s not here right now?”

Coff looked around nervously. Technically, they were right next to the HQ, Darth was very close…but they couldn’t let Erebus know that.

“Haven’t seen him in a while…” Star muttered.

“Me either.” Vane agreed, frowning at Erebus. “Are you that desperate to get your butt kicked again?”

Erebus scowled at her and raised his hand, a whole range of weapons rising up, prepared to fly at Vane. “Why you… I’ll teach you to mock me-“

He never got to finish his sentence. A metal-clawed hand grasped the back of his head, and a figure in black pants, with silver armor across his chest and a long black jacket twirled him around, and slammed him into the dirt.

“Greeeehhh…” The figure growled. It’s head was engulfed in a helmet; vaguely designed after a skull, a row of jagged teeth smirked across the front, and there were two slits in the shape of sinister, leering eyes. “I’m getting sick of you.” The voice that rattled from the helmet didn’t sound human; it sounded half human, half synthesized, and it rang of fury.

The figure grasped Erebus by the collar and pulled him to his feet, and released him, only to punch him hard enough to knock him back a few steps.

“Wha- How… how dare you!” Erebus screamed, and pointed at the figure. Ann array of weapons flew towards this violent brawler.

The figure dodged them as if they were toys. He deftly side stepped an axe, and then grabbed a spear before it could hit him. He twitched out of the way of a sword stroke, and finally, closed the distance by deftly stepping around a battle axe.

He was only five steps from Erebus. He raised his hands, and the metal claws seemed to extend. “I’m done with you.” The synthesized voice growled. Then he lunged, and defeated Erebus in two blows.

“Guys.” Apop said, stepping form the warehouse. “I wasn’t able to repair Darth’s data. This was the best I could do. May I introduce, Darth, The Armored Beast.”

Miso looked confusedly from Darth to Coff. “But I thought-“

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Coff frowned. “The title I unlocked was ‘The Mercenary’!”

Shining Blade
StarDust Café


Part X
Miso emerged at the very top of the spire.

“Woah.” He muttered. “But… There’s nothing up here!?”

And there wasn’t. It was a large, circular room, with a large archway in the center.

But no people. No monsters. Not even anything that looked like it would spawn a boss.

“Was this whole thing pointless?” Miso said, stepping into the room, twirling Zaine’s Sword.

Suddenly, the whole tower shook, a feral scream echoing throughout the tower. The archway burst to life, creating a portal, a thin veil with the appearance similar to Lava.

“Yikes.” He looked around, trying to find anything other than the portal. “Please tell me that’s not where I need to go?”

However, it was the only thing there.

“Fine.” Miso frowned. “Then let’s do this.”

And he stepped forward and reached for the portal-

The place he appeared in was a vast field of pure darkness. A huge volcano stood nearby, its open top glowing red from the lava inside.

Suddenly, a huge demonic figure pulled itself halfway from the Volcano. It looked like a man, albeit with enormous wings, and horns coming from its head.

“Great.” Miso sighed and shook his head. “I have to fight that.”

It raised its hands and reached for Miso, seeming to stretch out over him.

Miso had to sprint just to escape its grasp. He slashed at its wrist, and it withdrew its hand, but it didn’t seem harmed at all.

It frowned down at him, and growled, a low rumble that seemed to shake the whole area-

-then opened its mouth and spewed fire down at him.

“Woah!” Miso yelped rolling out of the path of the flames. “What the heck!” He scowled. “That isn’t fair at all!”

He pushed himself harder, running faster. This time, when it reached down for him, he dodged around its grasp ,and grabbed hold of its hand.

“Hah!” He smirked riding its hand closer to its head. He twirled his weapon as he approached, and drove it into Chernabogs Chest.

The creature growled, but seemed unfazed.

“What the…” Miso scowled. “You just aren’t going down easy, are you?”

He leapt up and continued upward, and readied Zaines sword, pointed it at Chernabogs head… and drove it through its chin.
The creatre rumbled another growl, and seemed to barely take notice of him, reaching up and flicking him away.

Miso hit the ground hard. “What the-… How am I supposed to beat it? Nothings hurting it at all…”

He thought back. “Everybody.. I’m sorry…but there’s no way to hurt it…”

Then the realization dawned. “Wait…I know-“ He stood just as Chernabog was reaching down for him again. He leapt up and grabbed hold of its hand. “I’m not just beating you for myself!” he shouted. “I’m defeating you for Apop!” He shouted, cutting entirely through Chernabogs wrist, as, on the word ‘Apop’ Zaine’s Sword burst into black fire.

“And Misa!” Miso yelled, and Zaines sword suddenly shown bright white and he charged up Chernabogs arm, cutting all the way up.

“I have to win!” He shouted, his blade hand suddenly glowing red. He slashed across the front left side of Chernabogs neck. “For Vane!” He slashed the front right side of its neck. “And Coff!” He threw the Sword like a spear through the back-right side of Chernabog’s neck. “And Star!” He shouted, Zaine’s sword suddenly bursting into flame, with him swinging at the back-left side of Chernabogs neck.

Then he leapt off, Gracefully doing a flip through the air before landing at the foot of Chernabogs Volcano.

Chernabog screeched, grasping at its neck with its remaining good hand as white gouts of flame escaped from the wounds.

Chernabog began to glow, and with one final shriek, Miso was blinded by a white light.

~~~

When he opened his eyes, he was standing on the edge of the second platform of the Spire, looking at the sunrise. The spire had split in two, right at the middle.

Star, Vane and Coff all walked up behind him.

“You did it!” Star cheered. “Excellent work!”

“Good job.” Vane agreed, nodding.

“Yay, Miso saved everybody!” Coff cheered. “We did good!”

“You did do well.” Miso smiled, looking out at the sunset. “you defeated those people, and survived. That’s the best we could hope for.”

Vane, Coff, Star, and Miso all looked out towards the sunset.

“Thanks…My friends.”

~~~END~~~