“What’s his name again?”
“Ryuk.” He stands silently for a moment, admiring her body.
“So, you called me over here … ”
“That I did.”
“It’s nice to, um, to see you.” She laughs nervously.
“I’m sure it is.” Kodai nods towards the couch. “Sit on the couch.”
“Okay.” Sarah quickly moves back over to the couch and straightens her mini-skirt before sitting down. Kodai takes a black armchair in front of her.
“So … ” She wipes a strand of hair out of her face and crosses her arms beneath her breasts.
“Spread your legs,” Kodai instructs.
“Um, okay.” She offers him a soft smile as she spreads her legs, showing him her light blue panties. “I wanted to wear black underwear,” she tells him, “but I thought this new set I picked up at Uniqlo looked cuter with this outfit. Not that I thought you’d see. Ha!”
“They are cute.”
She shifts her skirt up even further and shows him the front of the panties. “They have pictures of Betty Boop on them. Heard of her?”
“No, but I recognize the image. Lift the armrest.”
“Oh, this is one of those couches with armrests that lift, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
Sarah does as instructed. Her eyebrows raise as she takes in the content of the armrest. “What … what would you like me to wear?”
“I’d like you wear the choker collar.” Kodai unbuckles his pants.
“Um, yes, sure, anything you’d like.” She places a satin choker adorned with a heart-shaped gemstone around her neck. “Does this look about right?” Again, she regains her composure, as if all of this is exceedingly normal.
Kodai slips his pants off. “It looks perfect. Now I want you to touch yourself.”
She nervously moistens her lips. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come over there and touch you?”
“No,” he tells her as he pulls off his boxer briefs, “I want you to stay right where you are.”
Chapter 14: Cherry blossom ninjas
Ryuk checks his stats to find he has increased two levels through auto-leveling. While the ninjas in the Jatla Forest don’t carry many rupees, they are dishing out double experience points.
Ryuk Matsuzaki Level 7 Ballistics Mage
HP: 245/252
ATK: 69
MATK: 88
DEF: 50
MDF: 31
LUCK: 7
FeeTwix Fajer Level 11 Berserker Mystic
HP: 258/306
ATK: 84
MATK: 26
DEF: 59
MDF: 30
LUCK: 13
Hiccup Level 10 Shield Thief
HP: 363/425
ATK: 70
MATK: 13
DEF: 101
MDF: 48
LUCK: 9
Zaena Morozon Level 12 Brawler Assassin
HP: 279/357
ATK: 91
MATK: 8
DEF: 88
MDF: 24
LUCK: 14
The Mitherfickers – damn, he needs need a new name for their guild – are shaping up.
They are a little top heavy when it comes to physical attack power versus magic attack power, but this can prove beneficial. Ryuk isn’t a magic user in the traditional sense – he expends no mana. This is another reason Ballistics Mages are the least popular avatar to take. While they may have unlimited magical ammo, they can’t cast spells.
The weapon itself is also a handicap; Ryuk’s looked at the ‘upgraded’ slingshots available in Jatla and about the only upgrade available is a wrist brace. So, no magic in the traditional sense and a minimally effective weapon to wield – thus is the life of a lowly Ballistics Mage.
Once they rescue Tamana however, they’ll have a guild member who relies partially on magic. She can wield light-based attacks and she can also heal, which is a definite advantage given the speed with which two of his guildmates in particular rip through healing potions.
One more day to go.
An idea has been floating around in his head since they discovered signs of the Shinigami in the Jatla Forest. His idea may be the way forward, and it definitely falls within the parameters of emphasizing differences. The element of surprise is on his mind, and once the time is right, Ryuk will pitch his idea to his guildmates. For now, he keeps it to himself.
“Let’s all share a healing potion,” FeeTwix says, “We only have a couple left and there’s a good chance we’ll need it.”
The four stand at the base of a hillock, directly beneath a giant red Torii gate.
The water stained stone stairway shows the wear of generation upon generations of feet. Moss has grown over the banisters on either side of the stone stairway before them; fissures like veins have crumbled portions of the stairs into chunks, revealing the raw soil beneath. A thicket of bamboo covers at the top of the stairs, obscuring the entrance to the ninja temple.
“Fine,” says Hiccup, “me first.”
Hiccup snatches the glass bottle out of FeeTwix’s hand with more speed and alacrity than he usually displays, but before he can so much as uncork it, an invisible force snags it from him.
“Share,” Zaena reminds him. With her ghost limbs, she uncorks the healing potion and takes a sip without touching her mouth to the bottle.
“Ah, come on, Liz! That’s more than half … ”
She hands it to FeeTwix, who takes a healthy gulp.
“You can have my share,” Ryuk tells Hiccup.
The goblin leaps up and takes the bottle from FeeTwix’s hands. He stuffs it in his noise hole, sucks it down, and jams his tongue as far as he can into the bottle to lap up anything that’s left. “Good, but not great,” he says as he wipes his mouth with his mechanical arm. “Let’s kick some ninja ass, and get the hell out of here. I feel like we’re wasting valuable time in this forest. You said we had four healing potions left, right?”
“I did.” FeeTwix’s eyes are completely black. Just moments ago earlier, he announced that nearly 750,000 people were watching his livestream. He expects that number to rise as they enter the temple.
“How ‘bout letting Uncle Goblin keep two of them? You can focus on, um, killing and whatnot.” Hiccup nods up the stone stairway. “I predict there will be a fick-ton of ninjas up there, maybe even a fick-ton and a half, so it’d be better if all our healing stuff wasn’t concentrated on just one person. Hell, with a weakling like Marbles, you never know when one of us will have to run back and stick a bottle in his mouth. Trust me on this: you’ll want another compadre with a potion or two.”
“And this compadre should be you?” Zaena asks.
“Who else should it be? You’ll be too busy twirling swords to bother healing the rest of us.”
“Fair point.”
“So whaddaya say, Twixy, two potions?”
“Keep quiet,” Ryuk hisses.
The stone stairs are steep, at least six or seven flights, and they’ll likely get hit somewhere along their ascent. His dream armor has done a bang-up job so far of protecting him, but he’d still prefer to keep any adversaries at a distance. He moves a few steps in front of his guildmates to better his focus.
“Fine, fine!” FeeTwix waves his hands in defeat. “Have two potions, but do not drink them now.”
“Fick yeah!” Hiccup says loudly as he takes the potions. “You know, FeeTwix you ain’t such a bad guy after all. Now your new squeeze here … ”
“Charo tugtukh lopp.”