Blademaster Live!

Blademaster Live! The newest game to sweep the VRMMO world has just gotten its first ever expansion! Blademaster is a game in which you pick your class, elements and attributes in hopes of becoming the Ultimate Swordsman. There are tons of different options and combinations to choose from in order to customize your character to the fullest and play your way! The character classes are:

Knight -> Becomes either Paladin or Dark Knight in the newest expansion at level 50 depending on your attribute (light or dark respectively). Great class for tanking, high overall defenses but a bit on the slower side. Paladin has access to minor heals via Holy Light buff. Dark Knight has access to life and mana stealing abilities. Has access to shields and greatswords.

Swashbuckler -> Becomes either Buccaneer or Pirate at lvl 50 depending on your attribute (Light or dark respectively). Agile, well rounded class. Has use of limited ranged abilities via pistol sidearm. Adept at stealing objects. Buccaneers/Pirates benefit from bountiful hauls resulting in increased gains when treasure hunting, fishing and trading with merchants. Uses swords, daggers and rapiers.

Rouge -> Becomes Ninja at level 50 (regardless of attribute), only class with major healing abilities. Agile, with rapid strikes but low physical defenses. Has access to healing and elemental magic via use of Jutsu activated by hand signs. Has access to stealth and can go past enemies undetected. Can duel wield daggers. Shadowstrike buff deals increased damage when in dark areas such as caves or at night. Can use daggers and katanas.

Samurai -> Becomes Shogun or Ronin at level 50 depending on your attribute (light or dark respectively). Style dependent upon chosen element. Highest sword damage output in the game, however not much utility else. Shogun grants increased leadership and command when party leader, allows transformation into 'Divine Shogunate' armor for a limited time. Ronin class grants access to a second element to change up the playstyle. Can only use katanas.

Barbarian -> Becomes Berserker at level 50 (regardless of attribute). Strongest physical attack and highest stamina in game. Has auto-regeneration in via Bloodlust buff. Only axe-wielding class. Only class that can duel wield swords/greatswords/axes. Strong AOE abilities, great off-tank.

Fencer -> New, unique class with no further job, but the ability to learn abilities from other classes while in parties. Has access to minor heals and enchants in the form of elemental weapon buffs. Well rounded with high magical affinity. Uses rapiers only.

After picking your class, next you choose your attribute:

Light-> Grants access to 'Divine' abilities. Bonus damage against undead enemies. Prayers to the Sun increase damage for fire, earth and lightning based abilities.

Dark-> Grants access to 'Mystic' abilities. Bonus damage against beasts. Prayers to the Moon increase damage for Water/Ice, Wind and lightning based abilities.

Finally you choose your element:Fire, Water/Ice, Earth, Wind, Lightning. Different elements have access to different abilities. Depending on your characters unique class:element:attribute composition, you'll unlock a special 'Signature Ability' that's completely unique to you! Go nuts trying out different classes and elements for all sorts of combinations.

Step into the land of Dracain, a fully realized world of mountains, seas and monsters galore! Do you have what it takes to become the Ultimate Swordsman?


Mineta Koji kicked his feet up in his chair as he let out a cheer falling onto his bed"WHOO! I can't believe it's finally coming out! You really outdid yourself on this one big Bro."he said looking over at a picture on his desktop of him standing with his older brother "It's finally happening, your dream of having a fully realized AI world is coming true. Tomorrow the world is going to witness your greatness. I can't wait to login."he said as he closed his eyes falling asleep

The next day at school, Koji was sitting on the rooftop eating lunch with his two best friends from childhood "Will you guys finally play with me now? You saw how great the first game is, and the expansion already has over 2 million subscribers ready to play when the servers go live after school today....I even have a surprise for you."he said reaching into his backpack and pulling out two copies of the game for them as well as two complete sets of virtual headset gear "Reiko sent them over, he said he's bummed that he's not gonna be able to play with me on launch day since he has to go to some launch party or something for the company, but he told me that I should find a couple of friends to play with in his place....so since my brother knows you guys..I'm pretty sure he was talking about you personally."he said handing them each the gear "Plus they got tons of other things to do in the game besides sword fighting that's just the big pull. You can treasure hunt, or farm, or cook, or pretty much do what ever profession you want in the game. You can get married, start families, have digital kids, the possibilities are endless in this new engine that's supposed to power the game. The world my brother has been working on creating for the last 10 years is absolutely insane you got to believe me, everything feels so realistic, the sex, the food, everything, it's literally like living a second life but virtually."he said to them putting his hands together "So please please play with me guys!"he asked screwing his eyes shut

“If we say yes, will you stop pestering us to play?” Souta asked with a smirk. She always jabbed at her friends here and there but it was all in good fun, “of course I’ll play! I’ve actually been looking for ward to all the spare time I’ll have to try my had at VR games. Plus your brother put in so much hard work, I’d be a pretty bad friend if I didn’t help support his efforts.” She said with a chuckled but when he pulled out the sets, her eyes went wide. “Woah! Wait, are you serious? These cost a fortune! They are on back order!”

Tuya would pick up some rice with her chopsticks as she listened to the two of them, well more so to Koji as once again he was going on about the game that his brother had made. Granted it wasn't to the fact they didn't want to play it was that the gear for it was expensive plus Tuya was rather busy with a few other activities, swallowing her bite she sighed, "i suppose I did leave some of the clubs I was in to try and focus more on my studies...but I guess I can give this a try when I need down time.." however, when he pulled out the gear she nearly choked on the milk she was drinking. "wait...hold on! What Souta said how? I mean...How?!" she sighed heavily this was Koji that she was talking about as she pressed her hand to her faces. "I shouldn't even ask, You begged him for them knowing we couldn't afford the gear didn't you!" she said pointing her chopsticks to him.

"Whatever could you mean"Koji said whistling innocently "All I did was tell my Big Bro I needed some friends to play with and he delivered......don't mind the fact I may have asked him approximately 83 times until he finally got them delivered" he sweatdropped pushing it into their hands "All that matters if that you got the gear and it's already preinstalled, all you got to do is plug it in, create your character and you're good to go!"he said happily "The servers go live at 4pm so I'll be rushing home and hoping on right after school. I....uh....have to take care of some...things....on my high level character first, so I'll send you guys a friend request and once you finish creating your character and doing the opening tutorial to learn how to equip your weapons and use your skills, I'll meet you at the beginning adventurer down and take you out into the plains and show you how to fight for real and earn experience and loot."he said grinning "Leave it to me, you'll be having a legendary time in no time!"he said as he then began scarfing down his lunch as well too.

After school, Koji rushed right home and hopped into bed throwing on his headset and diving straight into the game:

Kiyuta opened his eyes as he sat up in the inn he had previously laid down in to logout for the rested experience for the start of the new expansion. The Adventurer System in the game had ranks ranging from Rookie, Adept, Adventurer, Champion, Legendary Hero. The more experience and renown you obtained through swordfights in the PVP Coliseum, taking on high level bosses in dungeons or maxing out your professional stats, the higher your character status rose. Most high level characters max out at Champion status, but the rare few, namely creators, moderators and those rare adventurers to do something truly extraordinary were granted the rank of Legendary Hero. "Shit I'm going to be late for the meeting!"he said as he jumped up out of the bed quickly throwing on his traditional samurai garb and armor as he adjusted his eyepatch and haori as he headed out the door and out of the inn to the large Guild in the center of town. This was Nivera the Capital City of Dracain and the home to the Independent Adventurers' Guild as well as the main guild houses for each of the main classes except the newly added Fencer. The Samurai Guild had endlessly tried to recruit Kiyuta, wanting to have a Legendary Hero on their side to tip their power scales in their favor when going against the other guilds, but he had joined the Independent Adventurers' Guild, a freelance guild for people to look for jobs and relax if they weren't a member of any of the Class Guilds.

As Kiyuta showed up other people were greeting him kindly, while lower level adventurers whispered excitedly about coming into contact with the Kiyuta the Flash for the first time. Known for his Legendary 1-step Slash technique it was rumored that all it took was a single strike from his sword to down even the strongest of bosses and that he had gone undefeated in a PVP Tournament two years in a row before retiring from the Coliseum. *Not to mention the sweet administrator privileges my brother gave me*he thought to himself as he sat down in the meeting

"As you all know, in less than an hour, the servers are going live and we are going to have an influx of Rookies and Noobs running around. It's our job as Indepedent Adventurers to lend a hand to our newbies and get them a leg up. The Guild is offering a 50 gold reward for every new recruit you can get signed up by the end of the first day. We've been low on new members as of late and with all the new content to farm, we're going to need as many hands as possible. As you know, it's hard for us to compete with some of the class rewards the other Guilds offer, but don't let that stop you. We aren't just all about grinding levels and pushing dungeon floors, we actually care about one another, having fun and Dracain itself. Let's shed some of that joy onto the new rooks as well too yeah?" the Guildmaster, and old grizzled man named Clause spoke to an eruption of cheers and adulation ad Kiyuta sat back pushing his white hair behind his shoulder with a smirk on his lips "Another riveting speech old man. I didn't think you still had em in you at this age."he teased before standing up "Don't worry, I hear ya, I actually have some friends that should be coming on right about now. I'll be picking them up in Newbie Town and leveling them up on our walk over to the Capital. I'll have you two new recruits by nightfall"he said as he then waved his hand as the system menu popped up and he selected Teleport and chose New Town as he vanished in a flash and reappeared leaning against the wall "They should be here any minute now"

Shouta was the first to arrive, she always had the same user name, Shizuka, which was a merging of her first and last name. Her avatar was of similar build and hieght, the only things that made the Avatar different from the player was that her hair was blond and her eyes were green where Shouta was a brunette with blue eyes.

She generated in the same generic starter armor. A simple chest plate of a tan shirt and brown pants and boots. She looked at her self before she saw the alert, “Friend near by.” She clicked it before looking around and finding him standing near by. “Hey.” She said and ran up to him. “This is actually pretty amazing!”

Tuya would glare at him some as she sat there listening to him going on about how he managed to get his brother more so begged and pestered as she sighed. "You know you shouldn't abuse your brother like that, one day it could bite you in the ass..." she stated going back to her own lunch. As she did she pulled out her phone as she began to type in a few things looking over the game, always the one to research it was something she liked to do reading about the next step for something. Though as lunch ended she waved to her friends promising she would try the game out and about 60 text messages later from Koji and her saying "yes dammit I'll be on!' the last few times she found herself laying on her bed pulling the visor down in place. SHe already had a note out to her parents telling her what she was doing she sighed once more before powering the system on and diving into the game.

She had to be honest with herself as she went through the creation, and the tutorial the game wasn't all that bad. Odd in some areas but she coudln't complain to bad as she would soon arrived at the starting area, her avatar was simple at least that's what she thought. She had picked a class that wouldn't see to much action more so sneaking around one she could 'gather' information with as that is what she liked to do. She also went a bit smaller than she normally was in the real world she was a typical standard height for a female here she was a bit smaller possibly maybe at an even 5', she stuck with similar simple features keeping her eyes and hair color the same. She had on a yukata tunic and simple shorts bandages ran up her arms and legs and on her hips two simple daggers, though she looked simple she had chosen a unique...race youkai which resulted in sometimes non-human features hers..which she got lucky was just two black horns. Stretching out her arms she sighed heavily "welp...I guess this is it..." she said examining herself till she got a notification "Koji...I swear..." she said tapping it, instead it was just a helpful hint. "Congratulations on completing the tutorial...as you where recruited by a friend here is their location as they are waiting for you in game! Please also add them to your friends list now!" she shook her head but hit the accept and started down the path. As she rounded a corner she noticed two people standing waiting one listed on her friends list the other...well honestly if she hadn't been friends with either one of them she would have walked off. "Really guys? you picked your names for your avatars?" Tuya said she had gone and chosen something different Kuroyuri which meant 'black lily' her favorite flower.

Kiyuta looked up as his sensor went off before Shizuka ran up to her "Yo, glad you could make it."he said as he looked her up and down "You look.....similar yet different"he laughed. He himself was about the same height as he already was being fairly tall, but he had long white hair and an eyepatch over his left eye and a deep violet right eye. He had a traditional samurai kimono and hakama on with a sakura petals on them, and a haori draped over his shoulder just barely covering the paired swords he wore on his waist as he looked over hearing another noise as a youkai walked up to them "Kuroyuri? Is that supposed to be you Tuya?"Kiyuta said with a chuckle "The way my name is spelled has the character for hope in it."he told her "I also made this character a long time ago but I can't change it at this point....maybe I'll make a new character tomorrow to play at the same level as you guys..."he said looking over their stats "I kind of forgot what it's like to be a lowbie and not have access to all the skills, well, did you both finish up your tutorial? I see your a Knight and a Rouge, what elements did you guys choose? This guy uses lightning but tomorrow I think I'm gonna go for a Water and Ice user"he questioned

“You both know how I am...I’m very unoriginal and set in my ways.” She said after Kuroyuri chastised her name choice. “Anyway, I chose lightning. It’s an element I haven’t used in a game before, figured I’d give it a try.”

Tuya or Kuroyuri as she was being called now at least in the game would shrug her shoulders a bit "Ya I finished it, it was rather interesting I think its more so to get your gear calibrated to how you move and such in the real world...that way it allows you to be natural in the game" she said simply, she also had done some research on the game as well as the gear in question like hell she was gonna do something without reading into it. "As for my element, I went with water...I read somewhere that when it rains or its misty a rogue at a certain level can use that to their advantage and become invisible to the point you cannot be located at all...and water's simple it can do a lot of things the other elements can't and it also defeats a lot of them as well or assists them..." as always she tended to over think a few things or got to the point she was researching to much she forgot to just have fun. Seeing them both staring blankly at her she sighed shaking her head "ok ya I did some digging alright!....anyways....Ko....I mean Kiyuta what do we do now? all I have on my list is head to this village or something.."

"Well I think it's a perfectly fine name Shizuka, that's the joy of being in a virtual world is that the limits are endless."Kiyuta said with a smile "Ooh lightning, I can give you a few pointers on how that works"he said as he then listened in to Kuroyuri "Wow no I'm actually impressed you know your stuff. That's right, Water Shinobi have a bunch of stealth and support skills as they level up, a lot of high end raid parties seek them out. But if you're gonna do water....maybe I'll try something different then so our skills don't overlap....I'll see what I come up with tomorrow"he said shaking his head "For today, you're right, so this is New Town, the starting area where everyone kind of gets acclimated to the game, there's an inn, couple shops, couple Artisans that'll teach you your professional skills like fishing, leatherworking, cooking, hunting, etc., and then you leave New Town and head to the Capital City of Nivera. From there you can pick up job requests and other quests from either the Church of the Light, the Independent Adventurer's Guild, or one of your class quests by visiting their Guild hall."he said as he motioned over his shoulder at the large city looming off in the distance

"Usually it's like a 10 copper cart ride or a half a day's walk to get there, so we're gonna walk, and I'm going to take you into the forest instead of on the regular trail and teach you how to fight monsters and gain some experience by using your skills. There's kind of an unknown thing in this game about the skills, it's written in the coding that the more you use a skill, you 'master' it and eventually unlock an upgraded version of it, so try to use your sword skills as much as possible when fighting, don't worry your MP auto replenishes after a while."

“Isn’t it kind of like....cheating? That you’re giving us all of these tips and tricks and things like that?” Shizuka asked as they began to walk toward the way out of New Town.
“Your not going to get into any trouble or anything right?l