Rai-Dei logged into The World. The scene was the same as always...the busling Mac Anu was full of life and activity as numerous players, newbie and veteran alike ran back and forth through the trodden stone streets. Each player was unique and yet also very similar to others because of similar tastes in clothes, class, and such factors of appearance. The majority of them were preparing for a quest of some sort. Rai-Dei hadn't been on a quest for awhile now, so he decided that now would be a good time to go on one. He looked into his leather GP pouch that he kept on his belt. It's only contents was a piece of lint. He picked it out and laughed.

"Well, I'm broke. Oh well..." This would just mean that he would have to go depending on his current inventory as well as his skill and resourcefullness. He would simply take an extra step in the caution department in order to stay alive on his own.

Entering the Chaos Gate, he entered the keywords, "Bursting Corrupted Far Thunder" and was warped there.

Arriving on the field, he found it quite relaxing. It was sprinkling, not yet a full-fledged rain. There was something about the dark, ominous storm clouds of a summer day that, oddly enough, comforted Rai-Dei. He took a deep breath and headed for the dungeon, not wanting to waste any time on the field enemies.

The dungeon was of stone. Rai-Dei walked down the hall and into the first chamber containing the first field portal. Out of it came two discoknives. Rai encountered them without fear, having had experience with these enemies before. The first discoknive reeled back and stabbed at him furiously, as enemies of his kind always tended to do. The blademaster sidestepped the attack and smashed into it with the broad side of his sword. The second discoknife came from behind and attacked rather high. Rai-Dei ducked the attack and then performed Revolver, spinning with his sword and destroying the both of them. He shrugged. What did you expect? Discoknives are only Level 1.

Rai-Dei proceeded through the first level of the dungeon, B1. Even though he was aware of the fact that the monsters started out fairly weak, and got stronger as he progressed through the levels of the dungeon, he had expected alittle more than this for a Level 3 field. Most of the monsters he was coming across were the same as he had seen before, level ones like Mad Grass and Deadly Moths. At last, he came to what had to be one of the last chambers in B1, and the portal here revealed a Snip Snap. A massive crab-like creature, with dual pinchers which appeared to be quite deadly. He hated to imagine what it might feel like to be assaulted with one of those things. Unfortunately, he got the priviledge to find out first hand. The Snip Snap casted some sort of paralysis on him and then grasped him with one of it's pinchers. Rai-Dei screamed out in pain as the Snip Snap lifted him from the ground and squeezed him. He could feel the jagged edges of the crab's claw grinding into his flesh. He wanted to squirm and writhe and at least attempt to get free, but he was completely helpless. At last the paralyze spell wore off and Rai-Dei casted Juk Rom on the enemy in pure rage, not thinking of his own well being. His leaf tornado hurt the Snip Snap badly, and almost caught him as well. His foe dropped him on the hard stone floor. His HP suffering, Rai-Dei got some distance away from the monster to cast Repth on himself. This wasn't difficult though, since the Snip-Snap had retreated some after being hit with the wood spell.

Rai-Dei raised his sword as his foe recovered, and they stared each other down. Suddenly the Snip Snap began to cast the spell again!

"No you don't!!!" Rai-Dei shouted, charging his opponant. He leapt into the air and brought his sword downwards as he descended. Putting all of his weight on his sword, he drove it deep into the crab's back. It screamed in pain and the turned to ashes. Rai-Dei had managed a critical hit. Rai-Dei waited a moment for his SP to recover before entering the next chamber. When he entered he found a stairway to the next floor. It was at this point that he realized that he could have easily been killed moments ago when he was paralyzed and defenseless. If he had a friend there to help him, he would not have had to endure so much pain. Why hadn't he brought one of his companions along? He knew that he had considered doing so back in Mac Anu...Rai wasn't a loner by any means. He was actually friendly and gregarious. Perhaps he needed to prove something to himself by coming here and therefore risking his life.

A chill was sent down his spine, and then he realized that this was merely a game. 'Wow', he thought, 'I actually forgot for a second that this was virtual reality. It's so realistic, sometimes you tend to forget that when you're here...' Maybe he wasn't risking his 'life', but risking a Game Over. He wouldn't allow himself to slack off, though. He still intended on survival and success. He proceeded to the next level.

The first portal that was confronted on B2 yielded four discoknives. Here came the answer to the question, quanity or quality? As a level 3 blademaster, Rai-Dei had little trouble with these numbers. He jumped right in the middle of the foes and as soon as they were all in close proximity he raised his sword and shouted, "Revolver!". He spun around with his sword at a blazing speed, each pass connecting with the targets with deadly precision. When he ceased, the discoknives all fell dead in unison. He loved that. Though, admittedly the spinning made him alittle dizzy. Continuing, he met up with a Chicken Hand in the next chamber. Well this was a new one. However, he realized that this monster was a level 4. It had a huge wingspan and seemed to tower over him, although this effect was just due to the fact that it was in mid flight. Rai-Dei readied his blade for whatever was to come.

Similar to Deadly Moths of the past, this enemy liked to hover above ground and swoop in on the target, then go back to hovering. Despite this being a familiar strategy, Rai-Dei got hit hard with the Chicken Hand's first attempt. It was quicker than Deadly Moths. He was knocked back, but did a backwards somersault to land in a kneeled position. He readied his blade, and when the Chicken Hand was above him about to strike, he lunged forth and took a wild slash at it. The Chicken Hand moved and he sailed through the air, right past it. He actually traveled slowly in the air. Apparently he hadn't taken off from the ground very effectively. So slow in fact, that he actually watched himself miss, and turned his head to look at the Chicken Hand as he passed it.

"Heh, I missed." he said to it, almost appologetically, but to no effect. The Chicken Hand retalliated and smashed him into the nearby wall. He grunted in pain and slid to the ground, where he watched as the Chicken Hand builded up for another swoop. Rai-Dei thought quickly, but decided just to sit there. The Chicken Hand swooped, but came in contact instead with Rai-Dei's erected sword. He had held it out so that the Chicken Hand would run right into it. Furious, the creature created a tornado of leaves. A Juk Rom.

"Ahh!!" Rai shouted as he was swept into the spell. It did massive damage, and left Rai with only a extremely small fraction of his HP left. One more hit would do him in, and he had no time or space to use Repth, so he was forced to use his only Health Drink, which normally he reserved for last resorts. It was an appropriate case for a last resort indeed, as the Chicken Hand prepared for the coup de grace. Rai's hand shot into his item pouch and he grabbed the Health Drink. Simultaneously the Chicken Hand descended upon him. By instinct, rolled thrice to the side, very narrowly evading the talons of the flying foe. He drained the Health Drink and jumped to his feet, bringing his sword up just in time to block an attack. This enemy was really bugging him...So he drew back, and released a flurry of sword attacks, ending the combo with a furious slice at a horizontal direction, right across the enemy's chest, killing it. He sighed with relief, and carried on with his journey. Suddenly he wouldn't mind running into lower leveled enemies.

Corridor after corridor, Rai-Dei advanced through B2. A one point he stopped and said aloud, "I hate this silence! I'm gonna have to start talking to my enemies."

The next portal pitted Rai-Dei against a Deadly Moth. Nothing new. It came at him swinging.

"I really hate you guys. That's probably why I keep running into you." he said. He darted past one of the moth's attempted blows and struck it with his sword. It shrieked in pain and attacked him again. Again he dodged and this time he stabbed through it completely, finishing it off.

"It would be nice if they programmed these things to respong. Even something like "Fool! I'll kill you!" would suffice..."

And on he went. He came to this level's final portal in his path, and it brought forth to him a Magical Goblin and two Swordmanoids. The odds were against him here. The Magical Goblin was the first to make a move, casting a Vak Kruz on Rai-Dei. The attack was a success as it connected with the blademaster and burned him badly. Rai-Dei managed to recover and was greeted by the charging of both of the Swordmanoids at once. Rai-Dei blocked one of the advancing swords with his Rondo, but the other Swordmanoid took the opportunity to make a stab at Rai's head. He jerked his head out of the way, only inches away from the enemy's sword. Immediately after this the first one made another attempt, slashing lower. Rai-Dei blocked this as well and then hit the ground, sweeping his leg low, knocking both of them off their feet. Just then, he was hit with another Vak Kruz from the Magical Goblin.

"He's becomming quite an annoyance!" Rai-Dei shouted. He recovered, and saw that the sword-wielding enemies were getting up as well. He jumped over them and charged straight at the magical enemy, who was running along the far wall frantically. Rai grinned at the sight of this, thinking that he must know of his impending doom. Instead of striking the goblin right away, he merely cornered it and waited. It started to cast a spell, but Rai-Dei turned around and set his attention on the approaching Swordmanoids. They were getting close. He turned back around and barely dodged another Vak Kruz. When the Swordmanoids got in close, Rai-Dei smirked and called,

"Revolver!!!"

Spinning like a deadly top, Rai-Dei managed to kill the Magical Goblin and damage the Swordmanoids all in one technique. However, he had put more energy into this one, thus spinning harder and faster, and once he was done he found himself feeling the effects of his own attack. The spinning had made him disoriented. As he stumbled around clumsily, sword lowered, he was vulnerable. The swordmanoids took advantage of him during this time (LoL that sounds bad XD). Both striking him hard, they managed to do good damage to the blademaster with just a few hits.

"What the hell? When was there six of you???" Rai demanded. "I guess I'll have to kick twice as much ass as before!" Actually, he should have said three times as much ass but he wasn't really thinking on his toes. Knowing he couldn't rely on his eyes anymore, Rai-Dei closed them and began slashing and slicing every which way furiously. Almost like a windmill, he cut in very broad circular motions in order to hit the Swordmanoids wherever they were. He soon felt that he hit something, and then stabbed blindly at that spot. Stabbing was a bad idea, though, because he threw too much of his weight into it and fell down because he had only made contact with thin air. He heard a wooshing sound above him, and instictively rolled to the side, and he heard the clashing of a sword to the stone floor. As far as he was concerned, Lady Luck had just flashed him. He opened his eyes to see that he was once again stable and no longer dizzy. He jumped to his feet. The Swordmanoids were charging at him already. Rai sheathed his sword and then jumped up just as they met. He did a scissor, Jackie Chan-style double kick, hitting both of the Swordmanoids in the chest and knocking them back. When he landed, he was astonished.

"I never knew I could do that! I just saw it in a movie once...Sweet."

Well, here's where it got to his head alittle. On TV you usually have your standard disclaimers saying that things should not be tried at home, like on Jackass. Well, Rai-Dei was an admirer of Shaolin Kung Fu and wanted to learn it IRL someday, and he thought that perhaps he could perform some of the sword-based moves in "THe World". He drew his sword and began wildly flipping and swinging his sword around in all directions around his body trying to look professional. He even added in swooshing sound effects and switching between hands. After a few moments he cut himself deeply on his leg. He cursed aloud and dropped his sword, and his foolish antics left just enough of a distraction for the Swordmanoids to launch a full scale attack, chopping vertically down on his shoulders. Rai-Dei hit the ground, but grabbed his sword. Enraged, he performed Revolver, killing them.

It was a game, after all, but his playing around came at a price. His HP was low now so he was forced to cast Repth and wait awhile until his SP recharged. Once this was done he continued down to B3.

Advancing in B3, Rai-Dei began singing to himself softly, his voice echoing through the stone walls of the dungeon.

"Come one and all and see the broken man, talking to himself..." he sang. He encountered a single discoknife in one of the portals and never broke stride. Coming in close to it swiftly and making a broad slash right through it.

"It doesn't feel good anymore, all I want to know is whyyyyy-yyyyy does any of it matter?" he sang passionately. That song kicked ass.

He began to feel as though this dungeon was coming near a close. The battles on this floor weren't especially noteworthy, for they were actually pretty standard. Nothing out of the ordinary. He didn't realize that the monster that he would contend with next would put all of the others to shame. Entering the room and activating the portal within, the blademaster found himself face to face with...a flying fish. As odd as that was, it was actually a Cyclo Shark, and it was massive and very fierce. Rai-Dei was intimidated by it. But there was no time to be afraid, because it was advancing on him the very moment it appeared. Rai swallowed hard.

Ok...I'll just jump atop it and destroy it from there. It shouldn't be able to reach me if I can get on it's back...

Rai-Dei leaped into the air, high enough to make it to the beast's back, but one of it's fins stopped him by smashing into his skull, and sending him flying back. Rai gathered himself up again and tried from another angle, springing into the air once again. The shark swung at him again, but Rai stabbed it's fin with his sword and pole vaulted off of it, onto it's back. He smiled in triumph, and brought his sword high above his head, preparing to impale the creature. He then noticed a wierd energy all around them suddenly, and it caused him to pause. Before he knew it, he was engulfed in some sort of water spell, and he was hurled off the shark's back and into a wall painfully.

"Alright then, I'll fight fair." Rai-Dei said, and decided to take a direct, one-on-one approach. He had resorted to the previous manuever because he had admittedly feared the shark's teeth. Rai-Dei charged at the shark and slashed, but the enemy easily avoided the strike and hit him. Rai made another attempt, but the same thing happened.

"That's it! Revol-" he began to cast Revolver, but the Cyclo Shark had cast his water spell again just before him, interupting the process. Rai was slammed against the far wall. He struggled to get to his feet as the creature closed in on him. His HP was getting low, and close combat seemed fruitless. He had two options: cast Repth, and keep trying to fight up close, or cast Juk Rom from a distance. The obvious choice was the latter, since Repth would leave him vulnerable, and he doubted his ability to buy much time in this chamber against such a large foe. However, he had 25 SP left, so he could cast two spells as he saw it now.

"This Juk Rom has got to count, so I'll make sure it does...Ap Torma!" He raised his magical accuracy, but the shark was already on him. Rai-Dei jumped up and managed to push off of the shark's fin with his leg, allowing him some extra momentum. He hit the floor running to the other end of the room. The shark swung at his head, but he ducked and slid under it. He got up fast and ran to the other wall, and casted a powerful Juk Rom carefully. The shark was emmersed in the tornado, and considerable damage was done, but not enough. Rai-Dei was out of SP and dangerously low on HP, not to mention trapped.

"Come on, SP...SP...!" he chanted this in desperation, but as the shark loomed over him he knew there was no chance of it regaining in time. In his mind was sparked an unorthodox tactic that he had used once in the past, and realized that it was worth a try. He took his Rondo up in his hand and then threw it at the Cyclo Shark's face. Although not entirely effective, the sword did manage to scrape the monster and leave a glimmer of hope. Using this distraction, Rai-Dei dove and slid under the shark and ran to the other end of the room once again. By this time, his SP was back up to 10!

"Juk Rom!" He shouted, casting the final attack in the battle. The Cyclo Shark at last fell, and Rai-Dei retrieved his sword. After yet another close shave, Rai-Dei asked himself once again, but this time aloud, "Why did I come alone???"

After revitalizing himself with a Repth spell, Rai-Dei entered a room that was empty, but had two alternate pathways. Rai-Dei had obviously come to several of these beforehand, since it was commonplace in dungeons. He took the left path and found himself in a small room with a single portal. The portal brought out a treasure chest, but it was booby trapped. Rai-Dei had no fortune wires, so he turned back and entered the other door.

He had at last reached his final destination in the dungeon, the Gott Statue. There it was...The Gott Treasure, and behind it hovered the enourmous, grandiose Gott Statue itself. It resembled a fearsome, mighty creature and it was done in such stunning detail that it lead Rai-Dei to wonder whether or not it was based on a real being somewhere in The World.

He then walked up and opened the chest....

Rai-Dei +1lv. +Leather Gloves