The Samurai marched across the barren wasteland known as the Kalhatchi Desert.

  Despite the excruciating heat, The Samurai showed no sign of a lack of comfort. Dressed head to toe in red and black samurai armour, she certainly looked the part – if a little out of place.

  She wore a black Oni mask with white tusks under a tiered helmet of red metal. Her body was strapped up with red and black armour, metal shoulder plates gave her the image of one much broader than she.

  She wore a single katana-like blade at her hip. There was no need for this of course, she could just as easily hold it in her inventory – but where’s the fun in that?

  It had been almost a month since she’d first arrived in Celestia, confused and afraid. Now it felt more like home to her than her real home ever had.

  She’d been introduced to various sword-style martial arts from a young age and had taken to them immediately. Praised as a prodigy, The Samurai had won numerous tournaments and cemented her name firmly in the local history books as the youngest kenjutsu master in a generation.

  The thing is, back on earth that’s all she would ever be. A marital artist. Not that there was any shame in that, but training in the sword purely for the sport seemed like such a waste to her.

  She often felt like she’d been born a few centuries too late. If only modern warfare was fought with the honour of old. She was certain she would thrive on a battlefield. A place where she could truly take her passion for the sword to the next level.

  Could you even call yourself a practitioner of the sword if you’d never used one with the intent to kill?

  Of course, she could never voice that opinion back on earth. It was barbaric and spat in the face of her discipline. However, she couldn’t help how she felt.

  Being spirited away to Celestia had finally given her the chance to truly prove herself. To hone her technique on a quest for power the likes of which her home world would likely never know.

  She had been afraid at first. The system had announced that she was been hunted, her body marred with a tattoo of a map fragment.

  One minute she was riding the train, the next she was here, in a desert.

  She’d been attacked by low level monsters almost immediately and after the first few kills, she found herself smiling at her good fortune.

  Upon finding a strange box, the system had offered her a choice of three weapons. Naturally she had chosen the sword.  

  Her first sword was a straight edged western style blade. It was quite different from the type she was used to, a far cry from the wooden bokken she had used for over a decade in her tournaments and training.

  Still, it was that basic sword that led her to realising the potential she had to rise in power and become a true force to be reckoned with.

  She wandered the Kalhatchi Desert, searching out stronger and stronger opponents and by the time she finally found a piece of civilisation, she had already reached phase two.

  At least that’s what the locals had called it. According to them, anything below level 30 was known as phase one and was most commonly associated with the children of this world.

  In a city named Kal, she found her way to the Adventure Society, a tall glass building resembling the Burj Kalifa from her world.

  Kal was a metropolis in the middle of a wasteland. Surrounded by water, the only water for miles around, it was like a futuristic facsimile of Venice with waterways in place of streets and tall glass buildings rubbing shoulders with their medieval clay counterparts.

  She had decided to hide her new race of outworlder, instead telling the Adventure Society receptionist that she hailed from the far east.

  It wasn’t a complete lie, more an omission of truth. Fortunately, they had accepted her at her word and offered to give her a class in exchange for her joining their society and accepting quests.

  It sounded like a win-win situation to The Samurai whose only goal was to find stronger enemies and improve her level.

  The warrior’s journey was a battle after all.

  She had been given a myriad of classes to pick from after being forced to sit through a few videos of corporate propaganda.

  However, she didn’t need to read further than the first class offered to her: Samurai.

 

Samurai (unique)

 

The Samurai is a famous warrior from earth known for their fierce attacks, impeccable swordsmanship, and code of honour.

Sadly though, honour doesn’t pay the bills in this world. Perhaps you should start an Oni-fans. Get it?

You have demonstrated your skill with the sword already, seeking out tough foes and besting them with ease.

Speaking of, have you heard about the Samurai who committed seppuku? He had no guts.

 

Selecting the Samurai class unlocks the following skills:

 

Summon Armour.

 

Summon Familiar.

 

Way of the Sword

 

Selecting the Samurai class will award the following stat points per level:

 

+6 strength / +5 agility / +2 stamina / +1 vitality / +5 intelligence

 

  The Samurai didn’t even finish reading about the class before she gleefully accepted it. When you know you know.

  It turned out to be the perfect fit for her. Though the vitality she gained per level was negligible. However, if she didn’t get hit, it wouldn’t matter. She also had +5 free points per level which evened the playing field a little.

  The skills it offered her were exactly what she’d wanted. Summon Armour was self-explanatory, though it had a hefty upfront mana cost. She soon realised that if she simply never took it off, it stayed with her.

  It cost no mana to keep it on, but she imagined it would take mana to repair it if she took damage.

  Way of the Sword gave her a significant boost to all sword skills and increased her chances of being offered more as she levelled up.

  She didn’t try her Summon Familiar skill until after she’d left the Adventure Society. Like with her armour skill, the upfront mana cost was pricey, but the familiar stayed with her after that.

  She’d named him Pocco and he was a large white wolf with red eyes. He was such a cutie! Though his fur had a tendency to get stained when he ripped monsters apart.

  She took to questing like a pig takes to muck. Accepting all three of her mandatory quests the very next day.

  They had mostly been minor clearance quests where she was sent to locate a den of low-level monsters and defeat them.

  She’d only gained a few measly levels from them despite slaughtering monsters in the thousands with the help of Pocco.

  However, as she approached the third and final quest location, her gut told her that this one would be different.

 

New Quest:

 

Red Robe, Brown Pants

 

The Adventure Society has received reports of cultist sightings in the nearby southern oasis.

Traverse the Kalhatchi Desert and investigate.

P.S. Investigate is code for mass murder.

 

Objectives:

 

Locate the cultist lair 0/1

Eliminate all cultists 0/1

Defeat the cultist leader 0/1

 

Reward: Honour is the only reward a Samurai needs

 

…

 

Only joking, it’s really a weapon rarity upgrade token.

 

  As she read through the quest one more time, she couldn’t help but tingle with anticipation.

  The cultist leader was sure to be strong and she greedily coveted the generous reward.

  She had finally gained her current sword in a loot box she’d gotten for scaling her sword skill five levels in a single day. It had come in the guise of an achievement called overachiever which came with an unnecessarily rude, and slightly racist, notification that likened her to a Korean mathlete.  

  She could hardly complain though after receiving a weapon similar to the one she had trained with back home.

  It had been three and a half weeks since she’d left Kal to carry out her three quests. She was looking forward to bathing when she finally returned.

  The desert heat was no joke, but a true samurai never complained. Especially with Pocco around, trapped in his fur coat. The poor wolf panted non-stop and she’d even had to carry him at one point after he passed out from heat stroke.

  As they crested a sand dune she finally caught sight of her target.

  The southern oasis looked like a mirage, shrouded in a heat haze. For a moment she doubted it was really there.

  The Aztec style temple sitting in the middle of the luscious palm trees confirmed the reality of it though.

  She could tell from a single look that it was the cultist’s lair. This would be her first time killing non-monsters, a true test of her warrior’s resolve.

  Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists she marched onwards towards the lair that would soon become a battlefield.

  The journey took longer than she’d expected. It turned out that when you see something that looks close by in a desert, it’s probably not.

  It was almost dark by the time she arrived and the scorching heat had given way to subzero temperatures. Pocco perked up with the change in climate, he lived for the cold and raced on ahead as they spotted a frosted pool of water.

  The Samurai ran behind him, she was just as parched as he was. Removing her mask, she dropped to all fours next to the wolf.

  As Pocco lapped happily at the water, she fully submerged her head and sucked in as much as she could manage.

  It was refreshing, but icy cold. It stung her throat and eyes and her face went numb in seconds. But it was the best tasting water she’d ever had.

  I should really buy provisions next time. She thought to herself.

  She’d spent an unnecessary amount of time cooking and eating the monster’s she’d killed. In future, if she had rations, she could eat on the go.

  Finding water was especially hard and if it wasn’t for her stats giving her an inhuman resistance to starvation and dehydration she would have died over a week ago.

  She pulled her head out of the water and felt her face freeze up as the freezing air brushed against it. Replacing her mask should do the trick, it had built in magic climate control. Possibly the single best perk to have in a desert.

  Though it could only do so much against the extreme elements found in the Kalhatchi.

  Pocco’s fur was also frozen. He didn’t seem to mind, however. He was built for the cold after all.

  After a few moments basking in the watery goodness, the two of them rose once again and continued onto their target.

  A nighttime attack seemed more to be a ninja’s speciality than a samurai’s, but she was facing down nearly one hundred foes by herself.

  Giving herself the element of surprise was simply good tactics. Besides, it’s not like anyone could blame her for choosing the smart attack.

  The Samurai of the past might have been brazen enough to wait until morning and simply waltz into the lion’s den and announce themselves.

  But she was alone in this world. She wasn’t a feudal lord beholden to some outdated sense of honour. Her honour code was entirely her own to shape.

  For all she knew she was the only samurai in all of Celestia, so defining the archetype was her prerogative.

  Besides, she fully intended to challenge the leader to single combat, once she’d dealt with his men that is.

  Looking towards her faithful familiar and offering a simple nod. She marched in the direction of the temple with anticipation and adrenaline coursing through her veins.