Ninjutsu Online

The Kiryū Clan

The first thing I heard was the sound of birds, my eyes were closed and the scent of nature assaulted my nasal canal. I could feel the soft earth beneath me, the wind on my face and the feeling of grass on my skin. For a moment everything was really peaceful, the kind of peace you noticed and felt could last for a very long time, just before s**t hits the fan; the proverbial calm before the storm. I opened my eyes.

What I saw left a rather sour taste in my mouth. From the look of things I seem to be in some sort of estate or rather a clan building. The houses were built with a mixture of ancient Japanese architecture, yet with a few high rise buildings built in a modern way. The buildings were all arranged in a circle around a clearing with a massive tree right in the middle, the tree that I and 8 other people just woke up under.

“Recruits! Time has come for all of you to pitch in and help with the restoration of the Kiryū clan! We have suffered numerous setbacks and attacks, so much so that even our clan home has fallen into disrepair. Help out anyway you can for the glory of your clan.” A voice shouted at us.

I looked up to see a frail looking middle aged man with blood red hair talking to me and the other players. The look on his face did not seem to match his enthusiasm as his face looked incredibly dull and bored. Obviously this was just a routine for him, and he didn’t seem all that willing to deliver this message to us. One of the other players was about to say something, but he raised his hands to put a stop to any question.

“Don’t ask me anything cause I won’t have the time to answer you. You are the only hope for our clan’s survival, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to get chummy with you. My job is to assign tasks to all of you, and eventually when I feel you guys are ready, begin your training and then send you to the ninja academy for more experience and official registration. For now all of you are forbidden from the leaving the clan grounds until I deem you ready. Now! Who’s ready for their tasks?”

{System Alert: You Have Triggered A Clan Quest: Grade: D: Help out around your clan home by completing all of the tasks that are given to you/ Conditions: Access to the village and various parts of the clan grounds are restricted and would only be released the higher ranked you become as a clan member, which is calculated based on how much help you’ve rendered. Study of any sort of jutsu is restricted and forbidden until Clan Quest is complete./ Rewards: +2 to all stats, 1 D rank Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu and FuinJutsu of random assignment./ Time Limit: Unknown}

[Note Refusal Of Quest Means you’re giving up the honor of becoming a member of the Kiryū clan. You would become a normal member of the Shōkan Toshi with a chance to join the other clans, but entry into the Uzumaki clan would forbidden…..Forever!]

This was not at all what I expected. It was too early to come into conclusions, but I think the Kiryū clan was a trap for greedy players.

And while it might not seem all that bad with what they had to offer, especially with the bonus stats and effect percentage gained from leveling up and certain skills. The only downside is, such benefits won’t be gotten until this clan was back up on it’s feet once again, and no one knows how long it would take. Which means players from the Uzumaki clan are sure to be left behind by players from other clans.

That wasn’t good news for me, not when I had such an important mission to carry out. But in the end I didn’t have much of a choice, being who I am meant I won’t quit until I see this to the end. Doing so would dishonor everything my parents and grandparents have taught me, plus I’m going to be a father soon. It might not matter to most, but I have to live by example.

The other players began discussing amongst themselves, and they would have included me, but I just accepted the quest and moved around a bit, trying to get used to the games mechanics and taking a look at our surroundings. We were in the middle of a clearing with a massive tree behind us, the tree had the carvings of a massive spiral right in it’s middle, and it’s leaves seemed to have a variety of colors. However on closer inspection, I realized that each of the leaves had an unknown written language swirling around it. There was no inspect or appraisal skill given, which meant I had idea what I was looking at.

To the north of the tree was a massive forest, to the east was a mountain range that also had part of the forest stretched on it. To the west were more clan buildings, along with the south. But beyond the horizon on the west, the top of some very tall buildings could be seen, making me suspect that was the city itself. Three bright flashes of light drew my attention, and I turned back to notice three of the other players disappearing. Seems like they rejected the quest. But that was not my problem, I’m just going to try my best and see where this goes.

“I’m ready for my tasks Mr.……”

“Arashi Kiryū! But you all can call me Vice-Head! Humph! You’re a scrappy looking fellow, I doubt you can even do much. You would need to build your strength. You can start by cleaning all of the rooms on the western residential dorms, even the dorms themselves have to be cleaned! Also be careful the dorms have been abandoned for quite a while so there are quite a few rodents living in it. But don’t you worry, your trusty broom, mop, rag, bucket and dust pan will keep you safe.”

[System Alert: You Have Triggered A Clan Quest: Grade D-: Clean The Entirety of the abandoned western residential dorms./Conditions: access to other quests restricted until current quest is completed./ Reward: +10 Clan contribution points, +1 to strength and physique stats, One bowl of miso ramen.]

[You Have received one Kiryū Clan Cleaning Kit.]

[Sturdy wooden broom/Type: cleaning Tool/Grade: D-/ Damage: 1-3/ Durability: 15/15]

[Sturdy Wooden Mop/Type: cleaning tool/ Grade: D-/ Damage: 1-3/ Durability: 15/15]

[Sturdy Wooden Bucket/Type: cleaning tool/ Grade: D-/ Damage: 1-4/ Durability: 15/15]

[Sturdy Wooden dust pan/Type: cleaning tool/ Grade: D-/ Damage: 1-2/ Durability: 15/15]

[Soft cleaning rag/ Type: cleaning tool/ Grade: D-/ Damage: 0-1/ Durability: 5/5]

Looking at the cleaning tools in my inventory, and the bored look on the Vice head’s face, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was not too late to change my mind and aim for the Senken-Sei or Kōjō clan instead. This is going to suck a whole f*****g lot!