Floor eleven. Officially one-tenth of the game finished. And in only four months. Kenshin could hardly believe how far he had come. He had grown much; as a person, and as a member of a team. Kenshin was no longer the same terrified wimp who had a meltdown at the mere thought of having to fight a Field Boss. He was a man now; still scared, but determined to remain strong. In truth, he really was a man, having turned eighteen the two months past. The team had thrown him a party in a small tavern on the sixth floor, with fabricated cake and everything. It made Kenshin finally feel like he belonged. It was at this party that he made his silent vow: never again would Kenshin Takami turn away from a fight due to fear. He would fight to defend those he cared about with all his strength, no matter what the consequences. From that point on, Kenshin had trained at every opportunity, sometimes even tiring Yuri with his incessant practice. Fitch taught him all he was able about combat mechanics, Suto showed him the basics of unarmed combat in case they were jumped unprepared, Yuri escorted him on endless scouting missions, and Luna helped him increase his accuracy and power with his throwing picks. Kenshin had transformed himself into the best fighter as he was able of becoming. Granted, Kenshin would never be as good as his teachers in their own specialties, but at least he was balanced. And with his new skills, armor, and weapons, he was well on his way to becoming quite formidable.

All this went through Kenshin’s mind as he listened to Heathcliffe’s speech outside the Boss Room. As the crimson-clad warrior turned and opened the doors, Kenshin drew his blade and willed his thoughts to calm. The doors opened and Kenshin rushed the room hot on Fitch’s heels. The strange man they found there was vaguely familiar from something, though Kenshin couldn’t place exactly what. He seemed oddly interested in Luna and KEnshin moved protectively closer, readying himself for action. It still came as a complete surprise when the man ripped his own flesh off and turned into a kriffing daemon, though. It pounced on Luna and drove her to the floor before mercilessly ravaging her supine form. Kenshin moved to defend his friend, but was beat to the punch by Heathcliffe and Fitch, who locked shields and blocked the blow that would have taken Luna from this world. Kenshin took this opportunity to draw second blood by sinking his sword hilt deep into the daemon’s back. He took a massive kick for his troubles and was sent flying across the room to slam into one of the torches on the wall. His armor took the brunt of the impact and Kenshin was instantly back on his feet. A skittering sound to the left drew his attention and he spun to see a veritable flood of imps come in from some hidden doorway, doubtless summoned here by the daemon. 

Kenshin grinned savagely and activated a Sword Skill. He held his blade low and to the right side, causing it to glow a soft blue. He held position until the first of the imps was within range and then let the gathered power loose. The blade flicked up and scored a line from its left hip up to its neck. A 360 degree spin to the left took the next imp’s head off. To finish the combo, Kenshin rolled forward and removed another imp’s legs off. The pause time at the end of the combo was long enough that Kenshin took a couple of hits, but the damage was easily healed. He waded back into the fray, swinging under his own skill now, and felled several more imps. Then there were other players backing him up, lances and spears decimating the devilish ranks while swords hewed limb from limb. Kenshin was able to retreat and provide some cover at a slightly safer range with the picks. 

Some time later, the silver-haired swordsman Nero lay the last strike on the final imp, finishing the battle. Kenshin trudged to where Suto stood over the shell-shocked form of Luna. On the way, he checked his HUD and was amazed to see that his health had just barely dropped into the red. He wracked his memory for exactly when he had received enough injuries to cause this much destruction and came up with a blank. Dismissing the event as an oversight due to the fog of battle, Kenshin knelt beside Luna and attempted to offer consolation. He was rebuffed, however by the assurances that she was ‘completely fine, just shaken’ and the arrival of a teary-eyed Yuri. Resigning himself to the fact that the mother hen would not let anyone else bother Luna, Kenshin moved some distance away and sat to heal the wounds received in the terrible clash.