Legendaria, rose thorn plaza, Construct Caller, Hoko Nun
Hoko finally got Kaizo and GasStar to split off to do their own event farming while she stayed behind with Kurt and Pearl. She was barely holding back the truth as she convinced Kaizo to go without them, Achilles helping her through the charade by reassuring her that, after today, she wouldn’t be holding a secret from her new friends. At least this way, Kurt and Pearl wouldn't get caught in Kai's crossfire.
Even though it was said by her embryo, she knew he was right—Kai wouldn't hesitate to use Kurt and Pearl as collateral if it meant taking down Kaizo. She had to remind herself, however, that Achilles was mostly based on her own thoughts and feelings. Whatever explanations he provided ultimately came from her conscious or subconscious mind.
Kaizo was truly an ass, deserving of some humbling. She had finally gotten access to Kaizo's serious content two weeks ago in the real world. It didn’t matter how many times she saw him cut through entire parties of Masters on his own—he only ever did so after the rest of the team got in deep trouble.
GasStar was nice, but he and Kaizo had history, and ever since he joined them more frequently in the past few weeks, they’d found themselves being dragged along by GasStar’s whims and Kaizo’s stubbornness into days-long fetch quests for insignificant NPCs, barely earning anything—just to have a “nice party” afterwards.
Once Hoko was finally sure Kaizo and GasStar had left, and that they weren’t listening through telepathic comms or anything, she finally responded to her brother to confirm she had done as he asked and separated Kaizo and GasStar from the rest of the team.
Kurt noticed her stop talking when she received the message and asked what was going on. She started explaining everything, unprompted.
"My brother set me up with you to plan a revenge on Kaizo. He told me to separate you from Kaizo and GasStar. He’s been planning this for weeks now—in the real world—and I think he’s going to win. I just don’t know what to do now..." Hoko paused to breathe, but Kurt spoke before she could continue.
"What the hell are you talking about? Your brother? The acrobatic guy from the party months ago? What do you mean he set you up with us? You’re talking nonsense—calm down."
"I’m not talking nonsense! My brother met you on his first day in Dendro. He angered Kaizo by ruining some quest you were about to complete, and he’s been planning this big rematch for months. He asked me to stab you in the back."
"Breath. Pause for a sec. Kaizo’s made plenty of enemies in Dendro. We’ve had entire weeks full of Master ambushes by virtues players over our actions against NPCs. We got through those—even if some of us died a bunch in the process. If you really want to stay, I’ll vouch for you."
"Would Kaizo really let it go if he found out I joined from the start knowing I agreed to betray you? And anyway, I don’t know if I even want to stay—"
Tsuno blushed as she realized what she said and quickly corrected herself.
"I meant I’m not sure I want to stay with Kaizo. He’s kind of a bully. He always forces us to go first into stuff. Why do you stay with him?"
Kurt was caught off guard, but then Pearl spoke softly.
"I had a crush on him... but got over it. I guess for me it’s just routine. Sometimes we do something fun. I don’t have many friends in real life, so I was coming along for you and Kurt. I guess GasStar too. Maybe we can have him join us without Kaizo?"
Kurt finally composed himself.
"I just met him early when I started playing. I really wanted to get famous, and Kaizo seemed to know his stuff, so I stuck around. Now, I don’t know... the channel isn’t growing, and since the Master fights cooled down, I’m not exactly thrilled about the missions Kaizo’s been taking us on. And don’t get me started on GasStar’s track record. The dude’s great, but I can’t with the quests he gets us into sometimes. Remember when we were hired to find some lost tamed beasts and the NPC forgot to tell us they meant the crystals were lost? We wasted two hours before they told us that.
Though... I don’t know. I still want to be famous. Kaizo would definitely make me start all over again if I left him."
"So? Say we start over. It would finally be our stuff. I know he tries to hide it, but he includes me pretty prominently in the video thumbnails—and it’s honestly uncomfortable," Hoko countered.
Kurt winced. "I make the thumbnails. I didn’t know you felt this way."
"Oh, uh... sorry," Hoko mumbled, starting to sob. Achilles tried to comfort her.
"It’s fine. You know Kurt wouldn’t have done it if he knew. Calm down. Finish what you had to say."
"I... thanks," Hoko swayed a little, suddenly tired, but Achilles held her upright.
"I think we can maybe decide what to do after the fight. Okay?" Kurt asked gently. "Do you think Sheko could actually win?"
"Oh, definitely," Hoko replied, wiping away her tears. "He doesn’t set impossible targets for himself. If he thought he couldn’t beat Kaizo yet, he’d have waited longer. He told me about his embryo’s second ability—and it was implied he had more. So whatever he showed in the arena? That was just one ability.
I tried to tell him about Kaizo’s new job, but he’s been ignoring me for two weeks now. I gave up trying—especially after he destroyed the underground fighting ring... after I showed it to him."
Kurt and Pearl suddenly pressed their hands to her mouth to silence her. Kurt pulled his hand back and wiped it on his pants after Hoko licked it to make him stop.
"Gross. I was just trying to make sure you don’t get us killed for that."
"What? I thought it was pretty common knowledge he did it."
"It’s common knowledge Sheko killed the local ring leader and exposed a bunch of people. It’s not common knowledge that we know him—or that he’s related to you," Kurt whispered conspiratorially.
"Fine, point taken. So... what are you ordering?" Hoko finally remembered they were in a nice café selling special desserts for the festival.
"Forget the food. You said you think Sheko has a good chance of winning—I want to see that."
Hoko’s face fell when he told her to forget the desserts, before Kurt relented.
"Fine—grab something quickly and eat it once we find a good spot to watch the fight. Kaizo’s a supersonic fighter—if they already started, we’d be lucky to even catch the end."
"Okay, fine." Hoko signaled for a waiter to pack a chocolate mousse for her to go, paying extra for enchanted cold storage—a wasteful luxury in most of the city, but a commonplace item in the bank-owned Rose Thorn Plaza.
As the trio of Masters—and their two accompanying embryos—hurried out of the plaza to find a good vantage point, a faint splotch of shadow detached itself from the shade of a nearby shop across the plaza... and followed them closely behind.
Legendaria - Trisha's alcove, Wiseman/Arcane Archer, Phantasm
<"We’re off. Sheko’s sister told them everything. We’re waiting for confirmation from him that it’s fine to attack, but we’ll follow closely. You’re in position, right?"> Astraeus’s voice rang clearly in Phantasm’s mind.
<"Yeah, I’m in the alcove. Sheko’s family’s got it made—three for three. Sheko is some insane dueling prodigy, he’s got a cool sister with an amazing Embryo, and his mom’s got a private alcove in the Fae city. Makes me almost mad if he didn’t give me this broken build. Also, apparently I’m a natural with a bow, according to him.">
Phantasm adjusted the borrowed telescope after confirming that Sheko and Mai had arrived at their starting location and watched as his friends exited the city, following Kaizo's team. He then swung the telescope back around—just in time to see Sheko rise into the sky, three massive boulders tethered to his spear.
With a fluid motion, Sheko hurled them, accelerating midair like heat-seeking missiles. They tore through the air, breaking the sound barrier before vanishing into the dense foliage—striking an unseen target and releasing an explosion as bright as the sun.
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No matter how high his Archer jobs raised his DEX, it didn’t grant him X-ray vision. However, that was no longer a problem once the flash from the explosion subsided, revealing a smoldering crater filled with glowing red glass slowly flowing to its bottom—where a perfectly healthy centaur with an artificial lower body and a skeletal wizard were picking themselves up.
A smile crept across Phantasm’s face.
If they were knocked down, the attack must have hit. And since they’re perfectly healthy, it can only mean their lifesaving brooches were destroyed instantly. My plan worked.
Phantasm gloated silently, forgetting that Sheko had already planned to use the spear as a long-range bombardment against Kaizo even before Phantasm suggested it.
<"Yes, we know. You keep telling us. Closing comms for now. Sheko gave the order. The team is heading to the big explosion just now—was it him?">
<"Yes. I think from where you left, you’ll reach the crater in about a minute, maybe a minute and a half.">
<"Then we’d better stop his allies from interfering now. Good luck.">
As Astraeus finished, Sheko and Kaizo rose into the air, while Mai and Kaizo’s friend—Phantasm couldn’t remember the name—remained behind. Phantasm kept the telescope on the crater a moment longer, just long enough to see Mai start strangling the wizard through a grayish sandstorm. Then, as he tried to follow Sheko and Kaizo in the air, he heard the door open behind him.
He turned quickly, using Instant Equip to raise his bow and summon an already-knocked arrow of light—aimed at a slightly overweight woman in a fancy dress, holding the hand of a little girl in a black gown with barely perceptible spider motifs.
The woman jumped and shouted, “What are you doing here!? Don’t you dare attack me—I know someone in the Court of Swords! I’ll have you sent to the Gaol!”
The girl rushed to defend the woman, taking a protective stance and raising what looked like six printed photographs.
Phantasm lowered his bow and relaxed. “Sorry, I’m Sheko’s friend. He said you shouldn’t be here today so I could use your alcove to watch the fight.”
As they spoke, the battle raged on—Kaizo’s radiant pink cloud visible even without the telescope.
“Who? Oh, you mean Kai. I’m terrible with these made-up names. Well, he should’ve asked me first—it’s my work area. And I was told to come because of a fight—I didn’t realize it was his fight.”
Sheko’s mom walked past Phantasm, pushed him aside, and then called to the girl. "Anansi."
The girl transformed into light and materialized into what looked like an ancient handheld console with a giant lens and cute spider legs jutting from its sides. Sheko’s mom then removed the lens Phantasm was using and screwed the console onto the telescope. It lit up to show a close-up of the fight on its screen.
Oh, it’s a really old camera... they’re called Polaroid cameras, right?
“Can I at least watch the fight beside you?” Phantasm asked, a bit annoyed as the seconds ticked on and the forest was scorched further by Kaizo’s relentless attacks.
“Fine, but don’t distract me too much. Bonus hours like this pay amazingly. At this rate, I might be able to buy a home here.”
As Phantasm watched the fight pensively, Trisha kept clicking a button on the camera every few seconds, constantly readjusting it. It was clear she didn’t possess the agility to properly follow the battle.
“You want help with this? You should go grind a bit more if you want to take pictures while Sheko fights—he’s gotten really fast by now.”
“I’d love that, but only I can use Anansi.”
“I can just readjust the telescope while you take the pictures.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
The duo remained quiet as Phantasm kept moving the telescope furiously to track the combatants—until a new voice entered the conversation.
Wukong spoke from his position on Phantasm’s forehead. “Say, Anansi, right? How did you awaken?”
Trisha startled again, before Phantasm explained, “That's Wukong, the circlet." pointing to it "he’s my Embryo—like Anansi.”
Phantasm, suddenly excited for the answer too, added, “Yeah! How did you meet Anansi?”
“I need to focus. Anansi, if you can answer without distracting me, you can go ahead.”
<"I know you said you don't want me to distract you, but I don’t want to say something that might give the wrong impression. Anyway, I awoke when Trisha was just minding her business, walking around town, when someone planted a stolen item on her. Either they wanted to frame her and escape justice or lose their tail and come back later to retrieve it. The police—or more accurately, the Court of Spring, who owned the item—arrived moments after the culprit escaped. The fae thought she was a collaborator, and she had no way to prove her innocence. The criminal had apparently killed several fae while escaping, so when they realized Trisha was a Master, they planned to get her on the wanted list, then kill her so she’d be sent to the Gaol. The fear she felt then made Trisha awaken me, and I was able to produce a picture of the culprit. Once they were found, her name was cleared.">
Anansi’s tone was reassuring. The experience was clearly more emotionally charged than it initially sounded to Phantasm and Wukong.
<"Hmm. Very unlike our experience. Phantasm was about to be kicked out of his first party, but when I awoke, it changed their minds and they let him stay. Though... they had further disagreements that grew over time until they split by mutual agreement. The anger on both sides hasn’t really subsided since."> Wukong explained.
<"Why didn’t she just log out and, like, wait a few hours? I mean, it’s just a game. You could take off the helmet, and the Tians can’t really do anything to you."> Phantasm asked.
<"Trisha’s really unused to video games, so she just kind of forgot she was in a game at the time. She really thought they were going to execute her. At least she got to meet Frida that way—so it wasn’t all bad. Just... 99% of it."> Anansi answered.
<"Wait—so if you started off so badly with the fae, how did you end up here? With a nice alcove in the best part of the city? The upper city itself doesn’t normally allow humans, and Masters? Forget about it. But you have a private alcove stocked with sweets and beverages.">
“You took stuff from the cooler?” Trisha looked up at Phantasm, her tone just a little surprised—but not angry.
“The fight! Take a picture now!” Phantasm shouted, just as Sheko landed the finishing blow on Kaizo—Trisha capturing the image just in time, quickly averting her gaze as Sheko punched a hole through Kaizo’s chest.
The rest of Kaizo’s body mangled itself like a finger caught between gears—except instead of a finger, it was the huge centaur’s entire torso.
Kaizo’s body fell to the ground, no longer supported by whatever means he had used to fly, and his cloud of dimming cherry blossoms drifted down after him.
The patch of fiery cherry trees Kaizo had conjured at the start of the fight was truly massive, and both Trisha and Phantasm lost sight of Sheko and the body in the pink mass as he followed after it.
A few seconds passed before Trisha finally stood up, disconnected Anansi from the telescope, and said:
“Well, I guess that’s it. It was nice to meet you. I’m happy to see Kai making some normal friends. You didn’t tell me your name.”
Phantasm was about to answer but got stuck on her comment—normal friends. Before he could decide how to respond, Sheko’s voice came through telepathy.
<"Phantasm, I need you to take down Kaizo now. I'm down an arm and at my wit’s end. I’m facing 45 degrees to a white tower 10 kilometers from me, and like 88 degrees and 7 kilometers from the city gates. I trust you can do this. We prepared. You can do this.">
Phantasm immediately pulled out a notebook and opened a calculator on his phone, which was connected to the Infinite Dendrogram headset. He worked like a man possessed, activating his AGI as if he were in the middle of a fight.
Wukong, cheerful and bold in tough times, was a capable fighter—but as expected of the Monkey King, he wasn’t much of a mathematician and couldn’t help his master in this situation.
If they hadn’t planned for this exact situation, Phantasm would’ve had no hope deciphering anything useful from what Sheko gave him. But after several intense trigonometry sessions in the past month, he was ready. After 30 seconds, he narrowed the area the fight was supposed to be in—but it made no sense. It was just slightly outside the cherry blossom grove... and just an empty forest clearing.
Where did my calculations go wrong? I’m sure I followed the steps correctly... Phantasm panicked.
Trisha was muttering something off to the side, cradling her face. “I could’ve hoped it’d be someone normal this time. Why can’t he just fit in with normal people?”
Phantasm’s heart dropped hearing Sheko’s mom talk like that—about him. About Sheko. He was about to spiral until Wukong spoke again in his mind:
<"Don’t mind her. Focus. You didn’t do anything wrong. Look at the tower again—it moved... somehow.">
Phantasm ignored Trisha and went back to his calculations, adjusting the position of the tower based on where he saw it initially and where it moved since assuming it kept the same direction and speed. He refined his aim, then used Trisha’s telescope to confirm—through its lens, he saw the orange glow of Kaizo’s fire crescents. He was sure of it.
Jumping onto the alcove’s railing, Phantasm activated the Arcane Archer’s Ultimate Skill: Imbued Arrow, then began a chant—or as Sheko had called it, a rumble chant. An arrow made of light solidified in his hand.
“We are not weird. We are not broken. We just haven’t found our place in life. But this... this is our place. Here, we are free. We find people like us. We don’t feel ashamed of existing.
If you can’t handle it—then shut up. I misspoke. We are weird, and we are here now for each other... and we are free!”
With every word, and every skill drawn from Phantasm’s thirteen jobs, the arrow glowed brighter—until his vision was entirely white. He had to trust that his aim was good enough.
Trisha shouted that if he released that arrow, they’d be in big trouble—but he didn’t listen. Instead, he pronounced his ultimate move’s name:
“Imbued Arrow – Prismatic Glint Pile!”
Normally, the deadly laser beam following the magic arrow would be about as wide as Phantasm’s head. But thanks to his chanting, and pouring every last drop of MP into Magic Area Designation Magnification (or MADM for short), the beam had swelled to the diameter of Phantasm’s height.
His new armor could withstand the heat radiating off the blast—but the railing beneath him couldn’t. It cracked and broke.
Phantasm made no effort to prevent his fall—he had countless ways to save himself. Instead, he chose to let it happen, using the descent as his dramatic exit. Twisting in midair, he turned to watch his work of art light up the late afternoon sky.
