Under The Cherry Blossoms

Under The Cherry Blossoms Part Nine

Recap: When we last left the group Zen, Verac, and Nakishodo had just successfully defended the Merchant Romulus from an attack before the city gates. They managed to get outside of the gates and run a fair distance before stopping to regain their breath.                        


Crit - Short for Critical hit. 

CHC - Critical Hit Chance. 

Aggro- Aggression. Attention of whoever is being attacked is directed to who attacked them. (i.e. Drawing Aggro.)

                                                                           (Zen) 

"Well good that your okay." I remarked to the Merchant. Nakishodo's face was flushed as if he had just run a mile. "See why choosing human was a bad idea?" remarked Verac glancing at him. 

"Hey just cuase your fuzzy doesn't make ya better than me." He replied straightening up with a determined look on his face. For a brief moment his eyes flashed and I could see just how determined he was to not give up. 

I decided to crack a joke to defuse the situation as I could sense the tension building. "Why does the Wolf chase his tail?" I asked seemingly at random.  

Everyone turned to me with a mystified expression. I grinned at them. "Cause it was seeking the full moon" my dumb answer must have been the reason the tension broke cuase Nakishodo snickered then it bloomed into full on laughter. 

The other two took a few more moments before they joined in and I smiled my tail wagging as it seemed the tension was gone for now.  With the party seemingly in a better headspace I gestured to Romulus. "Shall we continue?" I asked of the Merchant.  Who gave me a nod and continued to lead the way towards his home. I still staid beside him as front guard while Nakishodo seemed to take the middle guard and Verac the rear guard. 

While I kept my guard up I did try to engage Romulus and the rest in further conversation which seemed to relax the atmosphere between the group further. Even got a smile from Verac, who was giving the impression that he wasn't one to smile much.  

I mean it was just a game. It doesn't mean to play it ya had to be a social butterfly. I mean sure it helps but Solo players were a thing. Still it seemed it would take almost a days travel in game (which amounted to 2 hours real life) to reach the village home of Romulus. 

As we continued our journey which had time creeping towards noon Nakishodo's stomach audibly rumbled. He blushed and fished out the basic starting bread from his inventory and proceeded to quietly munch it as we went along washing it down with the water skin. 

I had to admit I was beyond curious at this. I mean sure some players had the hunger/thirst system turned on but it wasn't like it did anything to you physically. I mean you might feel as if you are thirsty or hungry in game but eating those items only alleviated those feelings in game. When you woke up outside of the game you would still have to attend to those needs. In other words outside of role play there wasn't really a reason to have it on. It was just simulated sensations. 

Still a big selling point of this game was that you played it your way. If you wanted it to feel legitimately like it was just another world that you had fallen into Isekai style then you were able to tweak the settings to be just like that. If Nakishodo was playing the game that way that was his problem not mine. I didn't have to judge it or like it.

Anyway onto more pressing problems. I noticed something was moving in the underbrush ahead of us in the road. I stopped our movements keeping an eye on the spot. "Probably just a Bundar." remarked Verac though he had charged up a fireball spell in preparation.

For those of you that are curious a Bundar was like a bunny from our world though it was the size of a young Grizzly ranging anywhere from 6 to 8 ft tall(1.8m to 2.4m tall) to  and weighing a heft 250 pounds (113.40kg) Lot of meat to salvage if one was inclined. However they were usually herbivores and while they could cuase trouble for the unwary adventurer usually it wasn't to much of a problem.  Still despite their size you would be wise to watch out for their speed. If you couldn't defend in time they would run you over like a truck.