Level 2: Humble Beginnings, New Enemies

***

The sound of dragging was heard on the distance with the two boys dragging an uncontrolled Ayane like a dead body, with each of them grabbing a leg. This continued for an hour until Ayane's head inadvertently bumped into a rock, snapping her back to reality. "Ouch that hurts" groaned Ayane in frustration.

After dragging an unconscious Ayane for miles on end around East Timor they finally saw the capital city in the distance, the city of Dili. A bustling rural hub full of new players just like Yukio and his party of two. And unlike the real world Dili, the city was medieval-ish and isn't all urbanized and influenced by technology.

It is in this town where some players are separated, others are gearing up to play and beat the Permission Guardian, others who doesn't like violence resort to working in small businesses ran by NPCs, like a blacksmith, a bakery, and an inn to name a few.

***

On the distance a crashing sound was heard. “Stop, thief!!!” one of the storekeepers shouted.

Many stalls were bumped by the thief that was swiftly running away from those who are chasing him. And on his wake, many goods weren't spared, either being also stolen or had crashed into the stone pavement below damaging its integrity and decreasing its value to potential buyers.

Inevitably when there's good, there is evil, that is human nature. Some few resort to formal deviances like pickpocketing and bullying businesses for money. They do not fear the red label in their names, but rather see it as a badge of honor; something that is worth bragging about. 

When Yukio's party finally reached the town of Dili which is the capital of East Timor, the first thing the three then came for was the weapons, they want to make sure they have good weapons as a good weapon can increase their chances of winning permission fights and would practically make their life a bit easier and safer. 

***

In the system inbox there are nine boxes, and money worth 10,000,000 credits each. That is an insane amount of money to earn for, thank Iwabe for that kind of stuff anyway in the first place as without his connection to him, no such jumpstart would happen and they would be penniless on the get go.

But on the stuff from their inbox they must open it in an inn to avoid it being stolen by thieves lurking in the shadows.

***

After Iwabe trapped the whole world in his Dream World here are the mechanics that are given by him to all the “players”.

1. This is my dream world and everything is under my disposal. A system function named the Imaginary Power Limiter exists and its main purpose is to limit the power you force in your body and without that limiter, your body leaks mana fast and you will die. Imaginary Limit forbade citizens to summon some things beyond their capabilities like a giant dragon. A Power Limiter respects its country/domain and the strength that you can exert increases as you advance to new countries.

2. What type of magic you would like to learn depends solely on you, the player. Whichever magic suits your play style depends entirely on you, you can also learn your magic's sub elements once you mastered the initial element.

3. You must collect all 19 permissions. When you do, you now have the right to challenge and take the India-Japan Permission which is guarded by me, the Permission is located in Uttar Pradesh in India at the Taj Mahal. Upon taking the India-Japan Permission the system registers it as a win and a command to cease function on the dream world. Therefore bringing you back to reality with no further damage done to everyone.

4. Don't forget to always fight the permission bosses fair and square, any underhanded tactics detected throughout a fight will enable a command that strengthens the boss, increasing the fight's difficulty in the process. 

Here's the route

1. East Timor

2. Indonesia 

3. Singapore 

4. Malaysia

5. Brunei

6. Philippines

7. Thailand 

8. Laos

9. Vietnam 

10. Cambodia 

11. Myanmar 

12. China

13. Mongolia

14. Nepal

15. Türkiye

16. America 

17. Saudi Arabia 

18. Russia 

19. Japan

20 India

5. You only have three lives in this world and if you have used the three lives that I have gave you. You will die for real by brain failure or sudden severe brain aneurysm. Even me, if I die thrice I will die and free you all from the Dream World, that is the deal but please fight me fair and square and without cheating from you. I'm trying to give you a good world with equal rights and laws. The person who committed murder or something grim, have their names marked red and will be executed by his one life in ten days. 

The whole ordeal of you dying after three lives is all brain talk, the sound waves caused by the broadcast causes the hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex, thalamus and the medial prefrontal cortex to be affected thus causing those parts of the brain to be controlled by the mother controller’s system. Once the death command is received, the latter happens. The entire process of the controller bonding with those parts of your brain doesn't cause pain. It doesn't matter how many decibels have you heard you'll be affected nonetheless.

6. The dream world replaces all your subsequent dreams, meaning that everytime you fall asleep, you come back to the dream world every single time. You'll only come back to the real world once you wake up.

7. You should make a team consisting of you as a leader. The maximum amount is 5, including the leader of the group as it will increase your survival rating and power and also make bosses easier. 

***

7:00 p.m. DST

As said earlier, Yukio unlike his two party members received six boxes but he can only share 3 boxes to one party member.

"Yukio, Keita, look at what I bought with 5 million credits" Ayane said and then she braggadociosly shows the item she bought to the boys.

The object in quest is a tome on Nature Magic and the tome looks kinda high end and is kinda heavy that it requires Yukio's two hands just to hold it, it has lots of pages and is brimming with magic power. Ayane really struck a deal with this one for an expensive amount of 5 million credits.

On the unboxing part of their journey in East Timor, Yukio first gave a box to Keita and they opened it together. And in it, there's a steel ball. They wondered what this ball could be, upon using "info" in their play tabs this information was unearthed.

***

Info: You can customize your looks once, free of charge and without any limitations or restrictions from the system. 

And as Keita and Yukio used the orb, they briefly disappeared.

*Poof* 

In a separate space, they find themselves customizing their avatar. The two boys try to think of an outfit that they won't regret choosing until the end of their journey. 

He swipes costume after costume, averting his eyes everytime a suggestive one graces his eyes and. He keeps swiping for minutes on end and selecting which outfit suits him as an aspiring adventurer in the game. And when he's happy with all the combinations he presses “okay”. “Finally, it's finished” Yukio said happily and as he confirmed his selection.

***

He then found himself wearing a black vest, black arm guards with gloves, a beige silk scarf wrapped around his neck, with the vest connected into a dark navy blue cloak with noble patterns of gold and silver, brown pants and a pair of black leather boots. 

Satisfied with his choice of attire, he tuned it to give him additional stat boost.

He next looked at his stats, his initial normal speed is now thrice more faster, his attack is heavily enhanced, his def has been slightly improved, and his hitpoints are a bit longer.

***

He wore an armor akin to that of a medieval knight, his headpiece is a metal band in the middle, his hands have arm coverings with a chain mail on it. For the undergarments he has an armored skirt like a samurai, with some thigh protection armor, shin guards as well as armored boots.

As he was satisfied, he tuned it to his liking. After tuning the vanities to his liking, his speed, his attack and his def has improved dramatically.

Only Ayane doesn't get to have a makeover because Yukio's mail only sent 6 boxes, plus Ayane showed some rude behaviour in front of the two of them. 

"Why can't you just spend money to give yourself some style?" recommended Keita to Ayane. She still have 5 million more credits in her name.

Ayane shrugs what Keita said, she is currently too lazy to go out at this time of the day, plus her safety isn't guaranteed. If she go out she'll just be easy prey for those pickpockets.

Moving on to the boxes, Yukio then gave Keita one, both boys receiving a rectangular box. Maybe it houses a weapon of a higher quality and grade.

Only one way to find out

Keita opened his first, the box emitted an orange glow as he slowly opened it, the light filled the room quickly with it being visible to the people outside. It may hint a high rarity sword or even higher than that. He might be better against Yukio. When the glow faded, Keita was confronted by a sword, a katana to be exact. Keita then named the sword as Hachizuki, and the name was then engraved in the handle of the weapon. There the system unraveled its stats and information.

Ability: Mark of Brute Force 

Information: Applies a temporary tattoo to the wielder that lasts until he/she lets go of the weapon. The tattoo increases the wielder's attack on a fixed percentage. Some parts of the tattoo shine that provide a multiplier to the strength and grants stat increase that gets stronger as more parts of the tattoo shine (and advance to a larger number). The weapon itself grants the user to the Moon Phase arts.

***

Jump to Yukio, he then opened his own box. He noticed that it's a little bit heavier than Keita's. Maybe that guy put some stones in the bottom of the case. That's why the load is a bit heavier than Keita's. As he opened that box, a red light then fills the room.

"It's so bright, my eyes will burn!!!" said by an overreacting Ayane.

The light that came from the inn now contaminated a part of the town. He is now so sure that he has a higher rarity than Keita. That mysterious guy really gave him an advantage among the rest. He should really express his gratitude towards him when they meet again.

As the light faded, Yukio gets a glimpse of his very own sword, a katana without a handguard. As he saw the neat, intricate cherry blossom engravings on the side and a fox engraving on the other side of the sword, he decided to name the sword as "Hokkyokugitsune" or "Arctic Fox"  

***

Hokkyokugitsune (Asmodeus Grade)

Abilities: Paintbrush of the Winter's Canvas

(Info: Grants the wielder All Elemental ATK boost +50%, with an additional 20% power boost for Ice and Water magic (as well as its sub elements) that stacks up to 5 times every time it hits a target, also giving the blade a rainbow luster. Grants the wielder access to water and ice magic while the enemy gets granted the Conundrum debuff after every successful hit on the target.)

(Conundrum: Every hit slows the target and every hit increases DMG dealt by z%, the damage increase varies on the enemy's current HP percentage (Δx) minus the enemy's lost HP percentage (Δy) divided by 20.)

[z% = (Δx-Δy) ÷ 20]

Kagetori (Shadow Bird)

(Info: Increases attack/movement speed by 5% per hit stacking up to 500% and grants access to Shadow Magic.)

***

After that, they did not want to open the last boxes as it only contained supplies and necessities that were needed in this dream world and nothing else, and opening such supply box would just fill their inventory with unnecessary stuff. 

"We should really need to sleep, it's getting late and we don't want to attract the attention of the townspeople below even more." said Ayane to the boys.

While cracking a yawn, the two boys agree to rest their heads as tomorrow it's another day and they must explore the town, so they must expect a busy schedule once they wake up in the morning.

"Goodnight everyone" said Ayane.

"Goodnight" replied Keita and Yukio in unison.

*********

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India 

As the three fell asleep the focus shifts to Ren currently on top of the giant mausoleum, on the Taj Mahal to be precise.

"Right, are the twenty now here?" queried Ren to the silent rooftop of the mausoleum from behind him, expecting a reply.

A slight whooshing was then heard accompanied by a woman giggling. "Why don't you turn around and see for yourself leader, so that you won't think it's the birds speaking to you." said by a bemused girl. With electricity trickling and sizzling from his body to her strings.

Lying on a hammock made up of purple electric mana threads is someone who wore a cloud blue colored uwagi (kimono like jacket) bearing the fox motif symbol of the Shadow Troupe, her name in Cyrillic (Маки) imprinted on the back of the uwagi tied with an obi that holds it in place, with a hood tailored on to it while wearing her mouth mask with a jagged pattern, she also wore her black gloves that sport a pattern and her most distinguishable feature that she's wearing the spool of glowing mana thread in her back.

The 19th Shadow of Mongolia 

The Tailor, aka the "Nephilim Nephila" 

Maki Romanova 

***

Finally looking from behind, he saw only 5 members. Ren's face only paints disappointment as he was trying to have a meet up with all of them here. 

"Ara ara, Tsuki-boy. Those idiots have priorities, and it seems that you're currently not their priority. The only thing you need to have right now is patience and understanding." said by a member who is calm and collected while holding her scythe, she wore a white floral cheongsam top, a blue hanfu skirt that covers her black cycling shorts. And doesn't seem to open her eyes.

Cross sitting on one of the mausoleum's minarets is the second member to show up. Holding her scythe in a horizontal position in her lap with her right hand and holding her tobacco pipe on her left hand. She didn't say anymore words and then fell silent as she smoked.

The 11th Shadow of Brunei                   

The "Cloud Reaper" Aria Rangkuti

***

Ren then felt another presence perching one of the mausoleum’s minarets, the sound of a cold steel gently scraping against the minaret’s surface, then he heard a caw of a peacock. Upon looking at that minaret he saw a vibrant display of a peacock clad in white and red but as the moonlight sheds light, it's a person who is wearing a red tang suit top, a black round sunglasses, black ku, and has a white and red colored peacock train at his back, which is made by his own magic. Unlike Aria, he would just stand on the minaret while wiping his Jian sword clean of any blood. 

The 18th Shadow of China

The “Blood Peacock” Fang Yun Li

***

As Fang brandishes and slashes his sword a couple of times, he senses a grinding feeling in the infrastructure especial on the unoccupied minaret next to Aria. The sound is that of chains grinding against something, with it slowly rising and rising until it rose to the top of the minarent where the fourth member decided to show her face and as well as her presence. Revealing a girl wearing a white blouse layered with a brown sweater vest and a red ribbon alongside an ultramarine plaid skirt. Behind her are 5 floating combat devices known as “seraphs” that forms a star when in an inactive state and her magic is conjuring chains. “Oh look, it's the Chain Girl. Wow, you're late” Fang said sarcastically. 

“Oh would you shut up captain obvious, my epic introduction to everyone here, I don't want to leave a bad first impression to the audience all because of your behavior, Fang.” she said angrily 

“No one will think ill of you if you did flunk your so called “epic introduction”, stop overthinking things for once goddamn” Fang rebutted 

17th Shadow of Cambodia 

The “Chained Seraphim” Tei Kunthea

***

And finally the fifth member appeared, and he is more refined and gentlemanlike. But he doesn't talk that much.

He carries a katana and a kodachi, and has a snake tattoo on his neck. His left eye has an insignia instead of a normal black pupil, wore a formal attire, a black haori with snake designs over his suit, a silver necklace with a snake head in the middle.  

The 1st Shadow of Japan 

The "White Snake" Riku Yamada

***

"With only the six of us right now, we will set the next meeting three days from now, same time, same place. And I expect everyone."

"To"

"Be"

"There"

Ren said in a serious tone. Then he shooed them away calling the meeting adjourned and over. 

As he opened his eyes again, no one was there anymore so he’s now left alone at the top of the mausoleum. Just him and his thoughts.

~Level 2 Completed~

*********

Author's note: Thanks for sticking by for the second chapter of this novel, I felt happy when I saw some people looking into my works. It makes me motivated to try finishing a new chapter just for all of you to read. Reading my works is deeply appreciate as much as liking on it. Also after reading the two chapters in the Honeyfeed app, the texts looked awful unlike here when you read it on the site, so it would be super if someone would help on how to make my works less awful on the Honeyfeed app. ✌️(^_^)✌️