Log Horizon Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
While Tatsuo and the others were on their way to Arica in Violet's world, Shizuka was sitting in front of her computer with an array of snacks and drinks scattered all over her desk. Currently, she was waiting for the newest expansion for her favorite MMORPG Elder Tales to launch. And because she did not have any classes today, she intended to spend the rest of the day exploring all the changes.
"*Sigh* This is taking too long." Shizuka said while restlessly moving her mouse around. "I wonder if Shiroe will be playing, too. Hopefully we'll be able to try so of the new raids together."
As she spoke to herself, Shizuka constantly glanced at the ti on her computer screen. And with every minute that passed, she beca more and more impatient.
"I wonder what the others are doing." Shizuka muttered to herself. "I haven't even checked the chat since I woke up this morning. They're supposed to be going to fight monsters, right? Wyverns are what they were talking about, wasn't it? *Sigh* If I weren't just a normal person, I would have loved to go with them."
Reaching that point, Shizuka let her gaze move down from the computer screen to her petite, child-like body. Then, she exhaled a tired sigh.
"*Sigh* They probably would have made fun of , though." Shizuka groaned. "I an, I'm supposed to be the third oldest mber of the [Chat]. But I look like I'm the youngest."
Although Shizuka said that to herself, she was not the third oldest mber of the [Dinsional Chat], but the fourth oldest. Because, for so reason, she had completely forgotten about Aletia, who spoke so little in the chat that she almost beca invisible.
On top of that, Aletia looked even younger than Shizuka, having stopped her aging process at the age of twelve thanks to her [Regeneration Magic]. But like Shizuka, Aletia had never sent a picture to the [Dinsional Chat], though their reasons for not doing so were different.
While Shizuka did not want anyone to make fun of her childish appearance, Aletia did not care what anyone other than Tatsuo thought of her.
*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*
Shizuka was pulled away from her thoughts when the sound of an alarm echoed through her bedroom. When it did, her mood brightened imdiately. Because the alarm let her know that there was only a minute left until the expansion, Novasphere Pioneers, would launch.
So, with bated breath, Shizuka leaned forward and watched as the launch tir counted down while hovering her mouse over the button to start the ga.
"Three... Two... One..." Shizuka muttered, counting down with the tir as it reached its end.
*Click!* *Click!*
Then, once the tir hit zero, Shizuka double click the Elder Tales Icon excitedly.
Log Horizon Universe, Theldesia, Yamato, League of Free Cities, Akiba.
Unfortunately, things did not go anywhere close to the way she expected them to. Instead of seeing the ga launch on her computer screen, Shizuka's vision went dark for a mont. Then, she found herself in an extrely familiar, yet wholly unfamiliar, place.
"What... just happened?" Shizuka asked herself while looking around in confusion. "And... is this...? Akiba....? But how?"
Shizuka then finally looked down at herself and realized what happened. Though, it was hard to believe.
Instead of the petite young woman she was used to seeing, she looked down and saw the body of a tall man wearing a purple, long-sleeved shirt with darker purple cuffs. And because she knew the equipnt her character had equipped, she knew that there was a hood on her head, as well.
Not only that, but she had armor on her shoulders and forearms, a pair of brown pants with a belt wrapped around her waist, black knee-high boots, and a pair of knee guards.
"Seriously, what's going on here?" Shizuka asked herself while moving her body around. "Did I turn into my ga character More importantly; did I get transferred into Theldesia?"
To Shizuka's surprise, she did not freak out as much as she thought she would upon discovering that fact. Instead, the first thing she did was to check the [Dinsional Chat]. Because despite only having access to it for a few days, she had started to see the mbers as friends. Even if they were not close ones.
'Phew! It's still there.' Shizuka thought to herself. 'I'll talk to them about this later.'
Shizuka then looked down at her body once agian. Shen tehn reached down to her crotch with trepidation. And when she touched it, she recoiled with horror in her eyes.
'But first, I need to do sothing about this body.' Shizuka thought to herself with fear and disgust. 'And I know just who I need to find for that. I just hope opening the nu works the sa as in the ga.'
Luckily, Shizuka had no issue opening the ga's nu. She then went to her friend list and found the person she was looking for. However, instead of starting a telepathic link, or voice chat, she started moving towards his location. Her ti as a completely silent player making her not even think to talk first.
ICDS Universe, Earth, United States of Arica, Page, Arizona.
{[Dinsional Chat]
Akatsuki: Hey, is anyone there?
Akatsuki: @Tatsuo! @Jas! @Alfonzo! @Elicia! @Sumire! @Aletia!
Akatsuki: Sothing happened, and I don't know what to do}
While Tatsuo, Jas, Tio, and Scáthach were on their way to the Field Dungeon, Wyvern Nest, Tatsuo and Jas, along with the other mbers of the [Dinsional Chat] in Violet's world received an alert that they had all been pinged in the [Chat].
As a result of the [Notification], Tatsuo and Jas ca to a stop, causing Tio and Scáthach to co to a stop, as well. Tatsuo and Jas then exchanged glances before nodding at each other and opening the [Dinsional Chat].
"Is sothing the matter, Tatsuo?" Tio asked in a curious, yet concerned, tone.
"Nah, everything is fine." Tatsuo replied. "Well, for us. But from what Akatsuki left in the [Chat], she might have encountered sothing dangerous."
"We need to see what the deal is with her before we go wyvern hunting." Jas added. "Hopefully, it's not too serious."
{[Dinsional Chat]
Lici: What's up, Akatsuki?
Sumire has changed their ID to Violet
Violet: Yeah, if we can help, we'll do our best
Akatsuki: Honestly, I don't know what you can do to help
Akatsuki: About six hours ago, I was transported into my favorite MMORPG as my ga character
Akatsuki: And if it weren't for this crazy chat, I probably would have freaked out a lot more because of this light novel-like situation I found myself in
Alfonzo: Well, at least it's not a death ga
Akatsuki: And how can you be sure of that
Jas: Because your world is a world that , Tatsuo, Alfonzo, and Lici are familiar with
Jas: So, did you find Shiroe and get the Appearance Reset Potion?
Akatsuki: How couldyou possibly no about Shiroe?
Akatsuki: Wait!
Akatsuki: My world is an ani/manga world like all of yours?
Akatsuki: If you knew that, why didn't you tell earlier?
Tatsuo (Admin): Because if we did, you might not have been pulled into the Elder Tale world
Tatsuo (Admin): And without the power of your ga character, being part of the chat would have been too dangerous for you
Jas: If you had joined before the trip to Arifureta, we probably would have stopped you, though
Jas: You probably would have been on that quest in stead of
Jas: Gaining power there would have been easy
Akatsuki: But now I can't even go back ho
Akatsuki: There's not even a log out button
Violet: Calm down, Akatsuki-San
Violet: I just looked through the [Shop]
Violet: There's an item you can buy to add a log out button
Violet: But it's expensive
Akatsuki: Seriously?}
With that, the [Chat] fell silent for a few minutes. anwhile, Tatsuo and Jas continued on their way to the Wyvern Nest. Then, just as they arrived, Akatsuki spoke up in the [Chat] once again.
{[Dinsional Chat]
Akatsuki: You were right
Akatsuki: And it really is expensive
Akatsuki: 100,000 Coins
Alfonzo: *Whistle* Damn that's expensive
Lici: Yeah, how many days would that take?
Tatsuo (Admin}: Over a thousand days
Tatsuo (Admin): And that's depending on how many coins you get each day
Lici: You could always borrow it from Tatsuo
Lici: He's got loads of coins
Lici: But then you'd be paying him back for a long ti
Akatsuki: I don't know if I'm ready to be in debt like that
Akatsuki: but it's an option, I guess
Tatsuo (Admin): You could go on missions, too
Tatsuo (Admin): There's always a random reward for completing them
Akatsuki: Really?
Akatsuki: That sounds like a better idea to
Alfonzo: But the key word is "random"
Alfonzo: There's no guarantee that you'll get what you want, you know?
Akatsuki: That's true
Akatsuki: But the probability isn't zero
Akatsuki: So, I'll take that chance... For now, at least
Tatsuo (Admin): Plus, I'm sure she wouldn't wanna leave any friends she makes while she's stuck in the ga world behind
Tatsuo (Admin): So, just one wouldn't be enough
Akatsuki: That... may be true
Jas: We can talk about this later
Jas: Tatsuo and I are at the nest
Jas: And the wyverns are looking pretty restless ever since we got here
Jas: So, we should probably focus on that for a while}
After Jas sent his last ssage, Tatsuo looked away from the [Dinsional Chat]. When he did, he saw several wyverns circling above them in the sky. And they were looking down at him, Jas, and Tio as if they were so kind of delicacy. The look in their eyes irritated Tatsuo for so reason. Though, he had no idea why that was.
"Why are they looking at us like that?' Tatsuo asked, growling in an irritated tone.
"If these wyverns are like any of the wyverns I've seen in my long life, then, I believe I know why." Scáthach said while gazing up at the circling wyverns.
*Swoosh!*
"I don't think he's listening." Jas said with a grin. "And even if he was, I don't know if he can hear you all the way up there."
While Jas spoke, he was pointing up towards the wyverns. More specifically, above them, where Tatsuo had just [Blinked].
"No matter." Scáthach replied while watching Tatsuo coat a pair of modified trench knives in midnight purple [Energy]. "Though, that is sothing we'll have to work on during his training. His energy control could use so work, as well. Honestly, I'm surprised he doesn't run out of whatever form of energy he uses with how much he is wasting."
As Scáthach's words ca to an end, she sowhat reconsidered her opinion on Tatsuo's [Energy] usage as she saw him swing his weapons a total of six tis, sending arcs of that midnight purple [Energy] at the six wyverns' necks.
"It would seem that his control is not as bad as I thought." Scáthach muttered. "Still, it could definitely use so work."
"I knew you were going to say that." Jas said.
"If you wouldn't mind, Master Scáthach, I would like to know the answer to Tatsuo's question from before he... Um..." Tio said, stamring a bit at the end.
"Ah... Yes, why those wyverns looked at you, the boy, and my disciple the way they did, yes?" Scáthach asked rhetorically. "Well, it's quite simple. In my experience, if a wyvern is able to eat a dragon... or at least so of its flesh, it has a great chance of evolving into sothing more powerful."
"But we're clearly more powerful than they are." Tio asked while tilting her head in confusion. "Why would they ever think that was possible?"
"Because these wyverns are little more than beasts." Jas said while materializing one of his katanas, Sixth Sense, on his hip. He then dropped into an iaido draw stance and looked up towards a wyvern coming from a different direction than the ones Tatsuo was fighting. "So, they can only tell that we're smaller than they are. And that ans they see us as prey."
In the next instant, Jas vanished from where he stood in a burst of speed. Then, when he next appeared, he was standing on the wyvern's back and sheathing his katana.
*Click!*
Then, when the handguard t the mouth of the sheath, making a sound that was much louder than it had any business to be, the wyvern's head fell off and it started falling towards the ground. However, before it could hit the ground, Jas used his speed to reappear next to Tio and Scáthach as if nothing happened.
"Yeah, I don't need Sixth Sense or Carnage for these things." Jas muttered. "I should have brought Ochiru Sakura and Mangetsu no Shita de instead."
"Perhaps." Scáthach replied absent-mindedly while watching Tatsuo tear through the wyvern's with great ferocity. "I do believe I ntioned that those blades would be overkill, did I not?"
"You literally just said, 'I told you so,' without using the words, 'I told you so.'" Jas said while deadpanning. "I think it would have been better if you had just said it, you know."
"I see." Scáthach replied as Tatsuo blinked out of the way of a wyvern's breath attack before reappearing over its head and plunging his blade into the wyvern's scull. "Very well then, I told you so."
In response, Jas' mouth fell open in stupifaction while Tio tried to hide her giggles by opening her hand fan and covering the lower half of her face with it. And what made this little interaction even funnier, was the fact that Scáthach's lips did not move to form a smile. Instead, the corners of her lips twitched ever so slightly when she felt Jas' reaction.
Not knowing what to say, Jas just turned around and started walking towards another group of approaching wyverns. Then, he simply vanished with the use of the [Flash Step]. In the next instant, the group of wyverns all fell from the sky with long gashes on their throats that sprayed large amounts of blood.
"Well, that answered my question as to why they were looking at us like that." Tio said while watching Tatsuo and Jas slaughter wyverns with ease. "But why does Tatsuo seem so angry."
"Because they are so weak." Scáthach replied while keeping her eyes on Tatsuo. "Though I can tell that you are not a dragon in the sense that I am used to, Tio, I would imagine that you've had your ti when pride dictated your actions, as well."
"*Sigh* I wish I could deny that." Tio replied while shaking her head with a sad look in her eyes. "But every dragonman goes through a phase like that. Luckily, I've had centuries to grow out of it."
"That's what I expected you to say." Scáthach said with a nod of her head. "And if it weren't for my guidance, I believe that Jas would still be going through the sa phase, as he did not start accumulating draconic aura until he was twelve or thirteen. But Tatsuo, he has only awakened to his draconic aura a little over six months ago, correct?"
"If you count the ti he was in my world on a [Mission], then yes." Tio replied. "But I think his body has only been dealing with it for a few days."
Hearing that, Scáthach finally turned her gaze away from Tatsuo to stare at Tio with such intensity that the masochistic dragonman took a step back on instinct.
"Tell more about what you just ntioned." Scáthach said in a firm tone that would definitely not tolerate refusal.
Scared into submission by Scáthach's intensity, Tio explained everything Tatsuo told her about what happens to his body when he returns from a [Mission] and how all his experience and gains are cramd into the body he had before leaving for the [Mission].
"I see." Scáthach said after taking a few monts to process what she just heard. "It would seem that I need to have a conversation with my disciple when we return to our lodgings. To think he did not tell everything."
Conveniently, Scáthach had forgotten, or rather, neglected the fact that she did not believe Jas' claims of traveling to another world to complete a [Mission] given by the [Dinsional Chat] until yesterday morning. Nor did she even consider that she would have dismissed his claims for the very sa reason. Especially since Jas' gains were not that great when compared to his strength before he left for the [Mission].
anwhile, Tio found herself shivering. Though, it was not because Tatsuo was giving her a dirty look or sothing similar. Instead, it was purely from fear.
'Now I understand why I was so scared back on the plane.' Tio thought to herself while she watched Scáthach return her attention to Tatsuo. 'If she actually does train us, there's a real chance that we'll die, isn't there?'
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