EFate: An MMO Story

The harsh clang of clashing metal rang through the field, as Jun's daggers clashed with his foe's sword. Twisting adroitly, he expertly avoided their second blade's swing, moving in closer as he did in order to limit the effectiveness of their swords, his daggers flashing in the sunlight as they stabbed towards any openings his opponent revealed.

With an annoyed shout, the swordswoman jumped backwards, her twin swords whirling in a complex pattern as she disengaged from the assassin's seeking blades. Raising both swords, mana began to swirl around the blades as she prepared to use a skill. However, it was too late. With a confident smile, the assassin's body blurred as he suddenly advanced. Letting out a startled cry, the swordswoman attempted to dodge backwards, but it was too late, Jun had already cut the distance between the two fighters in half and he was still advancing, his daggers giving off a faint grey glow as he entered the swordswoman's attack range.

Doing her best to concentrate, the swordswoman chopped downwards with both blades, attempting to catch Jun as he struck, but it was too late. Raising his daggers, Jun knocked the hasty strikes aside, his daggers blowing past her guard and settling against her neck.

"It's my win," Jun informed her, twirling the daggers and returning them to their sheaths at his waist.

With an annoyed exhalation, Mikasa lowered her swords, eyeing Jun wearily as she did so.

"How the hell are you so fast? Even when I thought I'd opened enough distance between us, you still managed to get inside my guard and deal a lethal blow. I don't get it."

"I'm just baiting you. If you'd been able to open up enough distance between us to use your skill before I could attack, I would've simply waited for you to come to me. But you didn't and tried using the skill anyways, so I won. It's pretty simple," Jun explained with a shrug.

"Yeah, Jun's a master baiter," Eric said with a laugh, cutting into the conversation as he jumped the fence and made his way over.

"You'd know about that, wouldn't you, Eric?" Jun asked challengingly as Eric came up alongside them.

Ignoring his friend's provocation, Eric simply chuckled, turning to look at the rest of the gathered fighters as they practiced their combat skills. There were seventeen people in total, present at the abandoned field, including both Ryan and Jun. Several of the fighters had paired off to spar against each other, practicing their skills in mock combat as Jun and Mikasa had just been doing. The others were doing sword drills under the instruction of an older man that Eric recognized from the Battle of Lichfrost. As the old man looked up, a wide smile crossed his face. Signalling for the drills to come to a halt, the old man beckoned Eric over.

"Eric! Did Ryan finally manage to wear you down? Or were you just so impressed by my moves the other day that you had to come learn from me directly?"

"A little of column A, a little of column B. How've you been Zwei? Haven't seen you since the feast," Eric replied, greeting the old man as the rest of the fighters crowded around the new arrival.

"Good, good. Just working on my swordsmanship along with the young'uns. It does my old bones some good to be surrounded by so many hard working youth," Zwei replied, his eyes twinkling as Ryan and Mikasa rolled their eyes.

"Don't you own a martial arts school in real life? You're literally always surrounded by youth," Ryan retorted.

"Not to mention that you refer to anyone younger than you as youth. Not that I mind," a slightly plump, middle aged woman piped up, wiping the sweat off her brow as she teased Zwei.

"Alas, the youth aren't really into HEMA. They prefer the more trendy sports such as Tae Kwon Do and Mixed Martial Arts. My school is just a bunch of old farts who like to lament about their younger years as they beat each other up," Zwei lamented, fluttering his hands dramatically.

"Doesn't seem too different from what's going on here to be honest," said Eric.

"Alright, so you've got me there. Are you here to join us in lamenting our younger years then? I've found that even the youngest tend to lament for the days they were in better shape once they start working out," he said with a wink.

"That's the plan. Although I'm not sure I can regret being out of shape inside a game."

"Perfect! I assume you're still planning to use the sword?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to try and use this sabre rather than the falchion I used during the battle," Eric replied, pointing to the sabre hanging from his back. "I still have the falchion, but I feel the sabre suits me better," Eric explained, producing said falchion from his storage to prove his point before causing it to disappear again.

Zwei's eyes lit up at this.

"A two-handed sword then. Great! I don't think we have any greatsword users here yet. Apart from myself of course. I've got a few spears, a dual-wielder, some duelists, and even a dagger fighter, but you'll be the first greatsword user."

"What are we, pokemon?" Mikasa complained.

"Dibs on Charizard," Ryan said quickly.

Mikasa rolled her eyes at this. As she began bickering lightly with Ryan, Zwei moved to examine Eric's sabre, still hanging as it was upon his back. Unable to contain himself any longer, Zwei reached out tentatively.

"Do you mind if I see it?

Unsheathing the sabre, Eric handed it to the old swordsman, who held it reverently as he examined the blade, running his fingers along its length and giving it a few practice swings before returning it to Eric.

"It's an excellent weapon. If you haven't done so yet, I'd get Tom to rebalance it for you, the centre of balance is a little off for someone our height. But apart from that, it should serve you well."

Nodding gratefully to Zwei, Eric looked around at the barren field. The grass had been sloppily cut, leaving uneven wildgrass everywhere one stepped. The fence that surrounded the field was also in dire need of repair. Layers of moss covering slats of rotten wood that were steadily falling apart, leaving wide gaps in the fence. If he hadn't insisted on making a cool entrance, Eric would have never jumped the fence, but instead opted to simply walk a few feet to either side and step over a fallen partition of wood.

Taking in the state of the field, Eric gave Zwei a side-eye.

"Nice place you've got here."

"It's not much, but it's ours. No one bothers us here, and the open air is good for the skin," Zwei confided with a grin.

"Good for the skin? It's a game," Eric responded.

"Good health is good health. That doesn't change just because the reality is virtual," Zwei said with a sage tone. "Now then, if you're joining us, we were just about to start doing drills."

"Drills?"

"Yes, sword drills. Just stand with the rest of them and follow my movements."

Nodding mildly, Eric followed Ryan as the other members of the group got into a ragged line facing Zwei with their weapons at the ready. Unsheathing the longsword on his back, Zwei took a ready stance, setting his feet slightly apart, he faced the group with his longsword raised.

"Hyaaa!" Zwei shouted, chopping downwards with the blade. Mirroring his move, the rest of the group brought their weapons down fiercely, as harsh cries filled the field. Lagging slightly behind the others, Eric mimicked their actions, following along as Zwei led them through various sword drills.