Fion Online

Chapter 1:3 The SeekRat

Disclaimer: I do not own the character SeekRat. It is owned by Artix Entertainment. Artix, if you are reading this….don't sue me, please!

A/N: As you can see, I have included a character I do not own. Hopefully this wouldn't make you dislike this story or anything.

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Somewhere in Fion Online…

A rat that was standing upright walked across a desert. The rat wore a red hood, which covered most of its head. It was about the size of a toddler (The same guy from chapter 1:1). In front of him was…..something, who was wearing a black cloak that covered his entire body. Not one body part was uncovered.

"You…..you are the Black Market NPC, are you not?" the rat asked the cloaked being.

"No. There is no such thing as the 'Black Market NPC'. That was just what players started to call me. I have no name." the cloaked being said.

"Hmm. Then I'll just call you what others have, Black Market NPC. I have heard of you before. You have the best items on this world. It is said that your weapons would always be 5 levels more powerful than it should be. You are also the best information broker out there, with vast knowledge of this world, knowledge that I crave." The rat said.

"Everything you just said is true. You know quite a lot about me. I also know a lot about you, SeekRat. You were born 12thof May 709, as a rat with intelligence as high, if not higher, than that of an elf." The Black Market NPC said, making SeekRat widen his eyes and fume.

"How….HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?" SeekRat demanded. He pointed the palm of his paw at the Black Market NPC, which was charging a ball of fire.

"Like you said before, SeekRat, I have a very vast knowledge of this world. And do you really think that puny fireball would even harm me? I am Level 100, SeekRat. Vastly higher than you. You would have a bigger chance if you are using that item." The Black Market NPC said, making SeekRat angrier and the ball of fire on its palm even bigger.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW I HAVE THAT ITEM?" SeekRat demanded.

"Like YOU said before, I have a vast knowledge. Be glad that no-one has asked me for information about it. That reminds me, you probably haven't come here to just talk. What do you want from me?" The Black Market NPC said.

SeekRat relaxed and cancelled the spell. "…like I said before, you have a vast knowledge of this world. What I want, is for you to tell me the truth about this world. The Truth of Fion." SeekRat said.

"The Truth? What do you mean by that?" The Black Market NPC asked.

"Don't mess with me! I know that those players know something about this world…..something that only they know. I have overheard players talking about 'Real Life'. I have overheard the calling Fion 'Fion Online'. I have heard them saying words that I do not understand, like 'car' and 'video games', the latter of which some refer Fion as. I don't know anything about them, but I do know that YOU are the ONLY NPC on Fion that can possibly know of this. I don't care how much I have to pay, I MUST KNOW!" SeekRat said.

The SeekRat couldn't see it, but the Black Market NPC was smiling under his hood. "Yes, it is true. I do know about the truth of this world. But I cannot tell it to you." The Black Market NPC said, making the SeekRat angry.

"I'll pay you as much as you want! I'll do anything! JUST TELL ME!" SeekRat demanded.

"I cannot do so, even if I wanted to. There is a reason why players don't tell NPCs the truth, there is a reason why I don't go around spreading about it. Because we CAN'T, SeekRat. Anyone who tells an NPC about it, even accidentally, would be permanently killed from this world. You don't know it, but right now the gods are watching us. Because I am the only NPC to know of the truth, they observe me like a hawk. I am not allowed to tell others. DO YOU UNDERSTAND, SeekRat?" The Black Market NPC said.

"…Fine then." The SeekRat said reluctantly. "In that case, can you give me a powerful spell book?" it said.

"Now THAT I can do. That'll be 10,000 gold, please." The Black Market NPC said.

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Lance logged-in to Fion Online and headed to the town hall, where he met up with Taiga, Ira, and Aisha. He made sure to tell the others that he would be 1 hour late this time.

"About time you got here. What are we going to do today? Do quests again?" Taiga asked.

"Yeah. We can get money and experience points much faster that way." Lance said.

"So…..slime hair gel again?" Tora said.

"Unfortunately, yes." Lance said. There were many protests when he said that. "Look, it's the most rewarding quest around, so we have no choice." Lance said.

"Oh fine." Tora said.

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"So let me get this straight…..you need us to get you wolf fur, so you can use it as fake hair?" Lance asked Har.

Har nodded. "Yes. How did you think we barbers make your hair magically longer than it is? Hey, it's not as disgusting as using slime goo as hair gel." Har said.

"You're right, it's not as disgusting as slime hair gel…..it's even more disgusting! You're using wolf fur, ridden with fleas and other filthy stuff, and use it on humans!" Ira exclaimed.

"Hey, I do clean the stuff before I use it. And like before, I'll be paying you good money if you can get me 20 bundles of wolf fur...for 200 gold for each of you. Twice of yesterday's pay. Isn't that a good deal?" Har said, making the rest silent, realizing he was right. "See, I always get the last word." Har said.

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At the entrance of Ezhar Village

The team headed out to the forest. As they were exiting the village, Lance noticed there were 2 guards on top of 2 separate watchtowers. Aisha seemed to recognize them.

"Hello Sira! Hello Kash!" Aisha greeted them.

The guards smiled at her. "Hey, Aisha. I guess those people with you are your party members? Well, I'm Kash. I'm a level 10 Bowman and player, one of the guards" Kash said. He was a man with short dark brown hair and eyes, dark skin and wore a green shirt and short brown pants underneath his leather armor. He was on top of the watchtower on the right of the entrance.

"And I'm Sira. I have the same class and level as Kash , and also a player. Nice to meet you." Sira said. Sira was a woman with shoulder length light brown hair, and wore a black shirt and skirt underneath her leather armor. She was on top of the watchtower to the left of the entrance.

"Hello, Sira and Kash. I'm Lance, and this is Taiga and Ira. Nice to meet you too. Well, have to get going now." Lance said.

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"So what's the plan?" Lupur the wolf asked.

"Ask SeekRat. He's the strategist among us." Bera said.

"Where is SeekRat anyways? He's quite late." The slime said.

"Odd, wasn't it you who always told me to be patient, Surai? You should be patient, you know." Lupur said with a grin. Surai the Slime ignored him.

"Who was talking about me?" SeekRat said as he teleported suddenly, surprising the rest of the monsters.

"WHOA! Dude, warn me before you do that!" Lupur said.

"About time you got here. What's the plan?" Bera asked.

"The plan? It's quite simple, really. All the stronger minions, like those about level 5, would gather together and attack the STRONGEST players and NPCs. This would greatly cripple their defenses. Next….hold on a minute, make that BEFORE what I just said…surround the respawn point at the center of the village with our strongest soldiers, and order them to immediately kill the players who respawn, to give them no chance of fighting back. Once you made sure that you killed most of the stronger players and NPCs, order the rest of your troops to come in and finish it off. Lupur, your troops are the best, but you have low numbers, so it's best for all your troops to stay in small groups of 5 to 10 and fight the stronger players and NPCs. Surai, your troops are the weakest but you have the most amount of soldiers, so stay in big groups of 15 to 30. My troops are in the middle, being intermediately strong and normal amount of numbers. They will assist your troops. As for us boss monsters, we will fight the strongest players and NPCs ourselves. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your troops, as we will need them. Remember, we have strength in numbers, so take advantage of that fact! A level 5 player can defeat a level 5 monster, but a level 5 player cannot defeat five level 5 monsters! " SeekRat said.

"Well, you heard what he said. Get your troops ready." Bera said.

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Sira looked around the outskirts of the village. Being a guard for Ezhar Village was quite boring, since it was always peaceful. Then something caught her attention. It seemed like hundreds of dots moving in unison towards them. "What's this?" she asked herself, and focused on the objects to try to see them more clearly. When she did realize what they were, she rubbed her eyes repeatedly, trying to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Umm, Kash….." she said, fear, in her words.

"What is it?" Kash said, annoyed.

"A-are you seeing this?" she said while pointing to a direction, her hands shaking.

"What are you talking about-HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT?" Kash exclaimed. Moving towards them was a small army made up of Giant Slimes, Big Rats, and Wolves. In front of each army was a humanoid slime, a rat standing upright, and a wolf with runes on it. And in front of all of them, was a lion with a golden mane.

"I-I don't know….but WE HAVE TO RAISE THE ALARM!" Sira exclaimed. Installed in each watchtower is a large bell that the guard can trigger, which would be heard all across the village and would warn the villagers of an incoming attack. Sira rushed to the rope that triggered the bell. But before she could pull the rope, she was hit by an ice shard to the head, killing her instantly.

"NOOOOOO! SIRA!" Kash exclaimed. He looked back at the army, to see the rat that was standing upright holding its palm out at Sira's direction, with some magic circles disappearing. "No way….a rat just used magic!" he said in disbelief. "Dammit, I have to raise the alarm!" Kash said. He rushed to the rope, and pulled it. The alarm rang. It was heard all across the village. "Okay, now to close the gate…." He said. He pulled another rope, and the entrance to the village closed. It wouldn't do much, but at least it would give some time for the villagers to prepare. Nodding, he grabbed his bow and arrows. "Okay, I have to kill some of the monsters before they get here! It's my du-"

He was hit by an ice shard as well.

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The monsters reached the entrance to the village. The village didn't have a lot defenses, with only a 5 meters high wooden fence and a 5.5 meters high wooden gate. Nevertheless, it would slow them down.

"How do you suppose we take this down? The longer we wait, the more time those damned players have to prepare." Lupur asked.

"Well-"

"Fireball." SeekRat said while casting a huge ball of fire, burning down the gate.

"Umm….Thank you, SeekRat." Bera said while going through the destroyed gate. SeekRat followed suit.

"…..Wow. I am glad I am not on the receiving end of SeekRat's magic." Lupur said.

"Finally, something we can agree on." Surai said.

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The bell rang throughout the village.

"What-what the hell? Who's attacking us? We have alliances with all neighboring towns and villages!" Manir exclaimed.

"Does it matter? Someone, or something, is attacking us. That's all that matters. EVERYONE GET READY FOR BATTLE! EVACUATE ALL THE NPCs WHO ARE NOT CAPABLE OF FIGHTING TO THE TREASURY! ALL NPCs WHO ARE CAPABLE OF FIGHTING PLEASE BORROWS SOME WEAPONS FROM APROK!" Azar shouted, which was heard by everyone in the village. All the NPCs who could not fight rushed to the treasury, which was the most secured building in the village. All the NPCs who were capable of fighting, but do not have weapons gone to Aprok, who lent them weapons to use.

"Who do you think is attacking us?" Aziel asked.

"Well-"

A loud sound of a large fire ball being casted cut them off.

"….well, we know one thing, and that is the enemy have a really powerful mage with them." Aziel said.

Azar climbed up the town hall, which was the tallest building in the village. He focused his eyes on the village gate, to see what was attacking them. He widened his eyes when he figured what it was. "No way….MONSTERS are attacking us! They're led by Bera!" he exclaimed.

"What? How is that possible? Bah, forget about it. What's important now is that we protect our village!" Manir said.

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"ATTACK!" Bera roared. With that simple order, the other bosses commanded their strongest soldiers to seek out the strongest players and NPCs in groups.

"Remember! We have strength in numbers! Seek out the strongest!" SeekRat exclaimed. He commanded his most powerful level 6 rats to gather and attack. Surai commanded his level 5 giant slimes to gather and attack. Lupur commanded his level 7 wolves to gather and attack. All armies passed through the burned gate and seeked out the strongest players. "GATHER AT THE RESPAWN POINT!" SeekRat exclaimed.

All the monsters began heading to the respawn point. Any player or NPC that stood in the way was quickly overwhelmed and killed. They may be weak, but they are strongest when together.

"Err, Manir…is that what I think it is?" Aziel asked.

"If you're seeing a horde of wolves running towards us, then yes." Manir said.

"Damn, we have to stop them!" Aziel said. He created two illusions of players, and made them to 'attack' the wolves. The wolves attacked the illusions, not knowing they were illusions. "Well, what are you both waiting for? Attack them while they're distracted!" Aziel exclaimed. Manir and Azar both attacked the wolves and killed them.

"Okay, just keep doing this and we can win!" Azar said.

"Do you think that was easy? And uh…you might want to look behind you." Aziel said. Azar and Manir turned around to see a huge hoard made up of wolves, slimes, and rats.

"Oh Crap." Azar said. The 3 leaders of Ezhar Village readied for a battle.

"Wait." A voice said, making all the monsters stop. It was Bera. "They're my prey." Bera said.

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"Hmmm, now where are the rest of the NPCs?" Lupur asked himself as he searched for all the NPCs who were not capable of fighting. "Damn, they must have evacuated-oh, what's this?" Lupur said as he noticed quite a lot of players protecting a rather large building.

"Get any closer, and we'll kill you, monster! We will protect the villagers in the treasury!" One of the players said. The rest of the players glared at him. "What? What did I do wrong?" he asked.

"You just told him what we're protecting!" another player said.

"…..oops." the player said.

"So THAT'S where they are. Thank you!" Lupur said as he leaped at one of the players and bit his neck. The others freaked out and tried to stab Lupur, but he quickly leaped out of the way and but the neck of another player. Before another player could attack, Lupur bit his neck too. He turned around to see a fireball heading towards him, but he dodged it and bit the mage who casted it.

"HAHA! NONE of you are a match for me! I am Lupur the Alpha Male of my tribe, the strongest and fastest wolf in my pack!" Lupur boasted. He looked at door of the treasury. It was much better secured than the other buildings, with a steel door and stone walls. "Hmm, now how will I get past thi-" Lupur didn't get to finish as ducked his head, with a pair of scissors passing through the air and bounced from the steel door. "What is this?" Lupur asked. He turned around to see 2 players, both holding scissors. The first one was a man wearing an apron and a red shirt and brown pants underneath the apron, and had black hair and red eyes. The second was a woman wearing leather armor, with brown curly hair and brown eyes.

"You ain't getting past that door, wolf." The man said.

"Oh? You two seem powerful. Who are you?" Lupur asked.

"I'm glad you asked! I'm Har, the level 7 Rogue and Barber!" Har said.

"And I'm Talar, the level 7 Rogue and Tailor!" Talar said.

"Level 7, huh? Well finally, someone strong. I am Lupur, the Level 10 Alpha Wolf-wait a minute…." Lupur said, as he sniffed the air. "Why do you both have the scent of my people?" Lupur asked.

"Your people? You mean wolves? Oh, I use wolf fur all the time as fake hair." Har said.

"And I use wolf fur to make clothing." Talar said.

"So THAT'S why players and NPCs keep killing my kind? Because they want to use our fur as clothing and fake hair?" Lupur asked angrily.

"Hey, not ALL of them….only most of the people in this area are." Har said.

"Why you…you BASTARDS! I'LL KILL BOTH OF YOU!" Lupur exclaimed.

"Well, bring it on! These scissors aren't just for cutting hair, you know!" Talar exclaimed.

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"Aprok! I need a weapon!" one of the villagers exclaimed.

Aprok nodded and gave the villager a sword. "Here you go." He said. The villager took the sword and used it on some slimes nearby. "Okay, that's all of the villagers." He said. He just finished giving all of the villagers weapons. He took out a large hammer underneath the counter. "Now it's time for ME to join the fray." He said. Aprok got out of his shop and began smashing the nearby slimes with his hammer.

"Hey! Why do you get the best weapons?" One of the villagers asked.

"I can't sell this to just anyone! THIS HAMMER HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE APROK FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!" He exclaimed, reminding some of the nearby players of a certain anime character.

"Oh? What's this?" a voice said. Everyone turned around to see the strangest thing they have ever seen(so far). A humanoid slime. It was shaped like a human, but its hands did not have any fingers, nor does it have any toes on its feet.

"Who…What are you?" Aprok asked.

"How rude. Why don't you tell me who you are?" the slime asked.

"…I am Aprok, the level 13 Warrior and Blacksmith! Who and what are you?" Aprok asked.

"That's better. I am Surai, the level 10 slime boss!" Surai exclaimed.

"Level 10? I congratulate you for making it that far. Most slime bosses never even get to level 8." Aprok said.

"Complimenting the enemy? You are quite strange, Blacksmith. Tell me, are you an NPC?" Surai asked.

Aprok raised his eyebrow at the strange question. "Well-"

"DON'T TELL HIM!" An elderly voice exclaimed. Everyone turned to see and old man wearing a brown robe, held a short brown staff with a blue orb on top and used the staff as a cane.

"Father Zaril! The Head Priest of the Local Church! Why can't I tell it?" Aprok asked.

"Because, Aprok, there must be a reason why it would ask you that. Remember what level it is? It is level 10, while you are level 13. Any intelligent monster would be running like hell if it encountered something stronger than it, and that slime is definitely intelligent if it could talk. But it didn't run away. This means it might have an ability that would make it capable of defeating you, and it asked you that question because it has something to do with it." Zaril said.

"Ha-ha, you are quite intelligent, old man. True, I do have an ability I can use to defeat you, and it does depend if you are an NPC or not. Do you want to see it?" Surai asked. Its body started shake.

Aprok widened his eyes. "ATTACK! DON'T LET HIM USE THAT ABILITY!" he ordered. All the nearby players attacked them with their weapons. However, Surai's HP didn't even budge.

"Oh no…GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! IT'S IMMUNE TO MELEE DAMAGE!" Zaril exclaimed. But he was too late. Surai grabbed hold of a nearby villager. Surai was….attaching itself to the villager.

"AAAAAAH! GET…GET IT OFF!" The villager exclaimed. He tried to get Surai off of it. But it was no use. A few seconds later, the villager stopped struggling. He opened its eyes. They were pure red. Surai has disappeared. The villager was covered in slime.

"No…no way. It….possessed him!" Zaril said.

The villager smiled at Zaril. "Correct." He said.

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"Dammit…..too many are wounded! I don't have enough health potions…" a man said. He had short blonde hair and eyes, and wore a brown robe. He wore a belt, which had some pockets attached to it. The pockets were full of vials and ingredients. This man was NPC Arfon Alrik, level 14 support mage, alchemist, and magesmith. (A/N: Totally not an expy of Alphonse Elric.) Alrik was giving out Health Potions to the wounded, and boy were they many wounded. He was in a tent, with many other healers, all trying to heal the wounded.

A loud explosion and some screams cut off his thoughts. He hurried out of the tent to see what was going on. He saw a very strange thing. A rat standing upright. Around the rat were the corpses of dead players and NPCs that was supposed to guard him and the healers. It levitated 2 players and charged a fireball, intending to kill them.

"STOP!" He said. He looked at the rat, determination in his eyes. "I won't let you hurt any more people!" he exclaimed.

"Oh? Try to stop me then." The rat said.

Arfon equipped his [Novice Alchemist's Staff]. It was a long copper rod with vials filled with liquid at the top. "That's exactly what I'm going to do!" Arfon exclaimed.

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Kash respawned. "What the hell happened?" he asked himself. The events that just happened ran through his mind. "Oh yeah. Monsters are attacking. Well, I guess I should fight too-Oh my god…" he said as he looked around. Beside him were the many corpses of players, and around the respawn point were several dozen monsters. "Oh cr-"

He got killed the second time.

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Lance sighed. He and his teammates had been hunting for more than half an hour by now, but they barely got 5 bundles of wolf fur. There was an odd lack of monsters today.

"Dammit, where are all the strong monsters?" Taiga asked. Lance shrugged.

"I don't know. There aren't a lot of monsters, especially wolves. It's a miracle we barely got to level 6." Lance said.

"Don't you find it odd, though? I once overheard some people saying that the numbers of monsters were increasing, but today it decreased dramatically. Something's fishy here…." Ira said. Taiga looked skeptical.

"I doubt it. Wouldn't we have heard about it? They could just have gone somewhere. Anyways, we just got to level 6. Did any of you gain any new skills? I haven't." Taiga said.

Lance checked his skills list. And sure enough, there were no new skills. "Well, I don't have any new skills either. Makes sense, though. It makes sense that we don't get any new skills every level, since that would mean those who are at, say, level 50, would have 50 skills. Especially since our old skills are still with us." Lance said.

A beeping was heard among them.

"Oh! I just got a new message! Please excuse me for a moment…." Aisha said. She opened her inbox and read the message. "Hmm, it's from Azar-nii! Let's see…..oh my…NO! AZAR-NII!" She exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Aisha?" Lance asked. She didn't answer. Worried, Lance walked to Aisha's back and read the message. The others followed suit.

Dear Aisha,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. Lance, Taiga, and Ira should be taking care of you well. Listen…..the village is under attack. Please stay with them and run away from the village until we tell you it's safe. Lance, Taiga, and Ira, if you are reading this, please take care of Aisha and stay away from the village.

Love, your brother Azar.

"Well…..that certainly explains some things." Ira said.

Lane stood there. After a few seconds, he ran off to the village.

"Wait! Lance! Where are you going?" Taiga asked.

Lance stopped running and turned around. "Going to the village, that's where. No way am I going to sit around and do nothing!" he exclaimed. He got ready to run again.

"Wait, Lance!" Ira shouted. Lance looked at Ira.

"Look, if you guys want to stay here, then let me go. I'll go on without you." Lance said. He ran.

"Lance!" Ira shouted. Lance kept on running. "Lance! Wait!" she shouted again. He didn't stop. Annoyed, she fired an arrow that missed Lance by a hair's length and made Lance stumble to the ground.

"What the hell, Ira? Are you trying to kill me?" he asked as he got up.

"No, but I will if I have to." Ira said.

Taiga looked at Lance. "Kazu-Lance, do you really have that little faith with us? We're not going to stop you…..we're going to help you." He said.

"Taiga-san's right." Aisha said, making the rest look at her. "I know Azar-nii told me to stay out of the village…..but I can't just stay back and watch people die. I'm not weak. I'm coming with you, Lance-kun." Aisha said.

"Ira…Taiga….Aisha….well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lance yelled.

End of Chapter 1:3

Man, this was pretty long. This Arc is becoming waaaaaay longer than it was supposed to be. Probably due to the fact I made too many characters(most of which would only appear in the first and second arcs, and maybe the final arc), and all those characters had to have a role somewhere. The 'Invasion of Ezhar' is probably going to last 2 more chapters, not including the epilogue(which I may or may not add)

Also, I'm accepting OCs! Just PM them to me! If I don't accept your OCs, I WILL PM you my response. If I don't reply for a few days, don't assume your character(s) was(were) not accepted. Although, I will have to change the storyline quite a bit according to your character's role.

Now, I know you guys have probably forgotten some stuff in this, and previous, chapters(Heck, even I have). Let me remind you about what happened in the past 3 chapters….

Who killed Aisha's Mother? Who is the mysterious Black Market NPC? What does The SeekRat have?

Find out…..in the next(few) chapter(s) of Fion Online!

Next Chapter: Chapter 1:4-Defenders of Ezhar