by Black & White

In a panic, Nabiki thrust her hand forward, screaming "NO!" at the top of her lungs. When her hand touched the window, it was firm but gave slightly like plastic, though the odd tingle of contact was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Seeing the letter her fingers had touched flicker before the window closed, she felt a sense of reassurance that she was not trapped without any control over her fate. Then she felt a shiver of fear down her spine as she realized that the flickering letter had been the Y.

"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! I DON'T WANT TO BE A SEX SLAVE!" She screamed.

There was no echo, and no response to her cry. She closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths. "Ok," she commented as she opened her eyes and looked at the collections of windows open before her. "I can't do anything by screaming, I've got to. . ." She paused, and stepped to the right of the mirror of herself in a sex slave's outfit, and raised her hand to tap the small window that only held a stylized question mark.

Welcome to the help menu, please select a topic.

Introduction to Pink Dragon World Unlimited

Character Creation

Gameplay

Common enemies

Holistic Immersion

Troubleshooting

Nabiki's hand hovered over the introduction, but then she lowered her hand and pressed Holistic Immersion. Once again it flickered then the enlarged window changed.

If you are playing with a genuine SRI brand computer, you have access to the Holistic Immersion option. Once activated you will be physically drawn into your character's role, experiencing what they experience. And with PDWU's Time Dilation system, you can opt to experience the game at a different time rate than in the real world, allowing you to play for hours or even days while only minutes pass in reality.

Note, if you do want to exit the game prior to achieving victory, access the game menu, enter your username and password, and exit the game.

Nabiki looked up and to the left, then reached up to click the File Menu. In front of her appeared another box.

Please enter

Username:

Password:

Tapping the Username box a few moments with no results, she then tried tracing the characters of her name. Each character materialized as she finished it, and she soon had her name and the password she would have chosen written into the appropriate boxes.

Password incorrect.

"So, I guess I'll have to play through to the end of the game." She said as she looked back at the help menu. Seeing it had closed, she reached up to tap the Help Icon again.

by S/Rohm

"Alright, if I can't exit this game, let's see what I can do."

A short while later, Nabiki was frowning in thought as she closed the Help menu. Despite its name, it hadn't been all that helpful. Most of its entries seemed to give only an extremely brief explanation and a reference to the user manual for further details.

Unfortunately, one of the things she did discover was that it wasn't possible to backtrack out of the character creation menu. Once a choice was entered, it was final. So she was stuck playing through the game as a sex-slave.

On the other hand, she had found some ways to make an acceptable character even with the limitations imposed by her new class. A diligent review of the choices of races, skills and selectable characteristics resulted in a number of possibilities to bend the rules to her advantage.

First, she needed to decide what role she wanted to take.

Sex-slaves weren't given much in the way of Fighter options, but if she maxed out what was available, she thought she could manage a credible warrior.

On the other hand, Healers were usually protected from combat. Surprisingly, there were some decent healing skills available to her. As the party healer, she would have considerable influence, and a respected position in the party.

Another decent possibility was going for a sneaky role. Some of the traditional thief abilities were unavailable to her class, but those that were available could form the basis for a competent sneak.

Perhaps the most challenging choice would be the magic-user role. This one offered hints of serious power, but the limitations on the magics available to sex-slaves were severe. Without a better understanding of the rules she couldn't tell if the disadvantages would outweigh the advantages.

Of course, trying to simulate a different Character Class necessitated compromises that weakened her character. Perhaps she should just work with the rules and max out her potential in her unwanted class.

Or, she could try something else…

It wasn't an easy choice, but in the end Nabiki opted for the safe bet. The other roles were tempting, and if she had been able to change her class, she would have picked one of them. As it was, however, Nabiki decided that the Healer role offered the best chance of mitigating the obvious problems that joining the game with the class of 'Sex-slave' was bound to cause.

With that decided, it was time to pick a race.

Well, Elves offered the best advantage/disadvantage combination for a Sex-slave-would-be-Healer. The Racial Traits weren't bad, but the real kicker was the bonus she would get in picking Class Skills.

Which, incidentally, was the next set of choices. Taking advantage of the bonus her race gave her, Nabiki quickly chose skills that maxed out her ability as a Healer. True, it wasn't too impressive a list, but it was much better than most first-level characters would have. Doing this meant sacrificing the possibility of choosing other skills, but Nabiki wasn't interested in creating a well-rounded character. She just wanted one that would get her through the game.

Finally, there were the Character Advantages/Disadvantages. Nabiki ignored the Disadvantages list. Yeah, playing a game with a character with a disadvantage might be interesting, but this 'game' was too real-seeming for her taste. There was no need to burden herself with unneeded difficulties.

However, the Advantages list had some possibilities. Nabiki made her selections and pressed 'Enter'.

As Nabiki watched, a scroll appeared in mid-air. Slowly it unfurled, revealing the following:

Race: Elf

Racial Traits

(Default) Increased Dexterity: Compared to most other races, Elves are more agile than average. See user manual, page 21

(Default) Decreased Strength: Compared to most other races, Elves are physically weaker than average. See user manual, page 21

(Default) Increased Attractiveness: Most Elves are physically appealing in appearance. Other races tend to find Elves uncommonly attractive. See user manual, page 21

(Chosen) Heightened Senses: One or more of the character's basic senses are heightened. Selection is random, but is weighted toward the sense(s) most beneficial to the character's class. See user manual, page 22

Class Skills

(Default) Sexual Techniques – Basic: Character is proficient in basic sexual knowledge, preferences and techniques covering all major races. See user manual, page 36

(Default) Domestic Skills – Basic: Character is proficient in basic cooking and cleaning skills. See user manual, page 38

(Chosen) Non-magical Healing: Character knows basic First-Aid and the treatment and care of wounds and illness.See user manual, page 35

(Chosen) Advanced Technique – Fatigue Removal: Character gains ability to magically remove fatigue in a subject. Effects equal to a full night's rest. (Prerequisite for: Advanced Technique – Minor Healing) See user manual, page 43

(Chosen) Advanced Technique – Minor Healing: Character gains ability to perform minor magical healing. (Prerequisite for: Advanced Technique – Healing) See user manual, page 43

Advantages

(Chosen) Gift of Tongues: Character has limited fluency in all major civilized languages See user manual, page 62

(Chosen) Spared in Combat: Character is an obvious non-combatant. Intelligent opponents will ignore during combat (at least until all immediate threats are taken care of) unless character does something perceived as a threat. See user manual, page 64

Disadvantages WARNING: Player failed to select sufficient disadvantages to balance out selected advantages! Remaining requirement selected automatically.

(Auto-select) Heightened Libido: Character's sex drive is much higher than racial norms. See user manual, page 60

(Auto-select) Submissiveness: Character has an ingrained deference to those displaying dominant characteristics. See user manual, page 59

Nabiki barely had time to read the scroll before her world faded to white. There was a brief moment of disorientation, accompanied by the queasy feeling of her body being molded like clay. Just as she started panicking, the sensations faded and her world solidified once more.

She found herself in a small room. On one wall was a glowing doorway, with the words "Enter To Begin Play" inscribed above it. On another wall, a full-length mirror displayed her reflection. Beyond that, the room was completely bare.

Nabiki approached the mirror with concern, even at first glance it was obvious that she had been changed. As she studied her reflection, her mind automatically cataloged the details.

It wasn't as bad as she had feared, she soon realized. The reflection staring back at her wasn't the overblown sex-bomb she had pictured. Yes, there had been changes, but it was still obviously Nabiki Tendo staring back at her.

The first change that caught her attention were the eyes. Large, expressive eyes now dominated her face. Eyes that seemed to expose her very soul for all the world to see. Such eyes frightened her, for they revealed too much, made one too vulnerable.

Tearing her attention from the eyes, she saw that the rest wasn't much different than a standard fantasy elf. Pointed ears that weren't ridiculously long, and indeed seemed just the right size, poked out from her hair. The hair itself was just a shade lighter than her normal brown, although it had grown out to reach about halfway to her waist.

Her body had the slender build common among fantasy elves, and while it was nicely proportioned, none of her curves were exaggerated. Her breasts were perhaps a shade larger than would be expected on someone with her new build, but might actually be a bit smaller than they were when she was human. Certainly her new cleavage was nothing compared to that sported by Shampoo (or Ranma, for that matter).

Even her dress wasn't too bad. It didn't seem all that practical for adventuring, but at least it wasn't a blatant invitation for sex. Colored a deep green hue that looked good on her, the dress fit snugly and did show off her figure, but it also covered her decently. Heck, while it was attractive, she had worn more daring outfits at home!

The main thing wrong with it, Nabiki noted with a frown, was the cheap cloth. It felt rough on her skin, and was a mild irritation. Well, she could put up with it. It was minor compared to her original fears.

Finished with her inspection, Nabiki turned toward the glowing portal. Briefly she considered not stepping through, but dismissed the thought. What good would that do? She would just be stuck in this room for who knew how long. No, she would face this head on. Nabiki Tendo wouldn't let herself be beaten by some silly video game!

Nabiki stepped through the portal and…

by PsyckoSama

As the light cleared a shudder made its way down Nabiki's spine. She knew her class was called Sex Slave but this was just too much!

The girl shuddered as she looked around and saw...

Nabiki gagged as the stench of mildew overwhelmed her sense. She was in a small room with roughly hewn walls and a cobblestone floor. The air was humid and cold, and the entire array was lit by a single crude torch mounted in an iron fixture so rotted with corrosion that it seemed as if it would crumble into dust if she looked at it too hard. Directly in front of her face was a solid wooden door, reinforced with steel bands.

She glanced down, to look at herself. She was clad in only a sheer loincloth and chest wrap that did nothing to fight the cold and almost as little to preserve her modesty. The best part was the fact that her arms were fastened to the wall with an iron chain making it impossible to move

Nabiki scoffed. Great. What a stereotypical dungeon.

A though that all the place needing was Orcs passed through her mind but she banished it before she could complete it. Last thing she needed was to jinx it and have a green skinned monster looking for a quicky.

She sighed and leaned back, onto something that felt like wood. Using her limited range of motion, she turned around and looked at it. A treasure chest. She was leaning against a TREASURE CHEST.

The irony of he situation hit her like a ton of bricks.

She was in a small room with only a treasure chest behind a thick door, most likely locked and probelly guarded by some monsters.

She was the reward for beating the dungeon.

She didn't know if she should laugh or cry.

It seemed comically stereotypical, likely just a set of tunnels filled with monsters and stupid mouse traps, with a couple of treasure rooms, likely loaded with all kinds of jewels, magical toys, and one nimble young sex slave, IE: Her. Even being part fiasco was demeaning.

Actually, that was probably the point.

She shook her head and managed to reposition herself so she was sitting on the chest. She had absolutely no idea how long she'd have to wait but the least she could do was get some semblance of comfort while she waited for her "hero" to "save her" and whisk her off to a life of sexual servitude.

If she'd paid to get in this game, she would be demanding a refund right about now…

by Valor Phoenix

Sitting irritably upon her treasure chest, the slave of the treasure room was rather bored. After the first hour, it had just become so very boring. Also, with her hands chained to the wall to where they would only come down to chest level, the experience was rather uncomfortable.

Eventually however there was a ruckus outside the heavy door to the treasure room, leading her to hope something might happen. At this point, she was rather hoping she would either be rescued, or at least fed, even if either event would likely end up with her being screwed.

It didn't take long for the ruckus outside to pick up pace, and she noticed there were human sounding shouts among the grunts and roars of the monsters. It was obviously a very heated brawl at the very least, though from the changing sounds of the monster grunts, it sounded like the monsters were losing.

Eventually however the sounds of combat died down, the musty treasure room suddenly becoming very quiet.

Then there was a key scrabbling at the lock, raising the distinct possibility that she was about to find out her fate as a sex slave. Would she be the quickie fix of the boss monster guarding her room? The pet of wandering adventurers? Sold off into slavery? Made to work menial jobs?

Slowly, the heavy door creaked open, revealing her fate, the shock actually drawing a disturbingly uncontrolled gasp of surprise from her lips.

Then her normal normal attitude snapped back into place. "Well, took ya long enough Saotome."

Looking at her briefly, the young man went to checking the door frame. "Heya Nabiki."

Checking the room out, Ranma was still quite recognizable, even with the armor and large bloody sword. For a moment, he almost seemed afraid to enter the room, as if one of the treasure chests was going to come alive and attack him. Didn't that dummy know what to do with a treasure room complete with one elven sex-slave? "C'mon Saotome, I'm cold and miserable. Let's get going already."

Shrugging, Ranma stepped into the room, apparently not content to put his sword away just yet. "Well, I'm making sure I know where the traps are. I mean sure they wouldn't bother me, but you might not be that lucky."

Surprised and a little worried, the chained slave attempted to spot any traps in the room. It would be real embarrassing to die from something like that, especially right as the rescue arrived.

Stretching a few kinks out, the young man casually addressed his 'treasure'. "Well, Kasumi said something's wrong with your character, she can't get into contact with ya for some reason. You got any ideas?"

Sighing, Nabiki hoped she wouldn't look foolish for admitting this, but she wanted to get logged out of this game. Staying any longer than she had to risked much worse humiliations. "I don't have a username or password. It said I'd have to reach some level before before I could save and log out, or something to that effect."

Nodding, Ranma stared up at the ceiling for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Not that Nabiki gave him that much credit of course. "Kasumi says you have to hit your class upgrade level. Since you're a non-combatant, guess that means I'll be sticking with you until then. Kasumi's hoping this will go better now that she's patched the game and applied an expansion pack."

Briefly dismissing the part where she found out she'd be Ranma's sex-slave for the foreseeable future, she instead latched onto the more surprising bit. "Kasumi knows how to work this and do all of that?"

Shrugging, Ranma didn't see what the big deal was, he was just glad Kasumi had known what to do with the weird game. "Yeah, I mean she'd plays video games pretty much everyday. I kinda wish I got more time to play with her, she likes the co-op stuff."

Reminded that this was a game and shelving the other thoughts, Nabiki attempted to check out Ranma's stats and assess him. Just the process of doing that was distracting as her loins heated while she checked the studly warrior out, reminding her of her position.

Ranma - Divine Majin

Level 5 Divine Majin HP 720 SP 176 ATK 166 INT 258 HIT 148 DEF 334 RES 326 SPD 160

Equipment (5/5) Lamentation ATK+20 HP+4 SP/DEF/RES+2 Dark

Majin Taiko HP/INT/RES+15 SP/DEF+3 Allows Magic Use Lordly Robes DEF/RES+10 SP+2 Reputation +12 Ash Armor DEF+15 HP+2 SP/RES+1 Master Bracelet Base Stats +6 Divine Charm: Resist Elements/Status Immunity

Divine Majin: The Ultimate Warrior, he would challenge even the Gods in Heaven and the Overlords of the Netherworld. Angels and Devils alike tremble in his presence.

Threat Comparison?

Nabiki - Elf

Level 1 Sex-slave HP 32 SP 16 ATK 0 INT 8 HIT 8 DEF 4 RES 24 SPD 16

Equipment (2/2) Slave Irons Base Stats -4, Movement Restricted Slave Rags Reputation -8

A common sex-slave, lacking the skill to be useful otherwise. Value: 8 Silvers

-== Are you kidding? ==-

Shivering, Nabiki felt her unwanted disadvantages kick in as she suddenly became very warm despite the damp chilly air. Unconsciously squeezing her breasts, she hastily crossed her arms over her chest before Ranma noticed her deteriorating control.

Watching him calmly wipe the blood from his blade with a rag, she idly wondered just how he could wield a sword that large in a dungeon. It was actually fairly nice looking, with a smooth wide blade made of some bluish looking metal with an intricately inscribed design. The large rounded gems set in the hilt didn't exactly detract from her assessment either.

The armor he was wearing was somewhat strange considering what she'd been expecting. His clothing looked a lot like what the old samurai generals would wear. It was high quality not just in cut, but the design and the material itself looked extremely nice. The samurai styled armor he was wearing matched the look, though it seemed to be somewhat lacking in heavy armor pieces compared to what her father liked to wear at times. Even the armor seemed to be exceptionally well made, with some pieces looking like they were made from a blue metal instead of simply being enameled blue.

Of course, the oddest thing about him was the floating golden wheel behind him, a feature seen in mythological Japanese figures. Unlike old ink drawings however, what followed him was obviously a free floating piece of golden metal, almost like some kind of glowing halo.

All told, Ranma was way better off than she would have expected. She was pretty sure starting adventurers were supposed to get pathetically laughable equipment, like her own rags and irons. Besides the fact that he was dressed like royalty, what was up with his class?

Ignoring Nabiki's inner turmoil, Ranma casually placed his sword on his back. Walking over to the door, he poked his head around the massive slab before calling out into the large room beyond that was populated by groaning monsters in pain. "Luan Ko! C'mon, we're buttoning up for a bit."

To Nabiki's surprise, a somewhat familiar looking red-headed girl dashed into the room, obviously having little trouble putting on such a burst of speed. Once his companion was in, the young man eased the door to before locking it from the inside. That done, he sat himself down on a crate and proceeded to do nothing.

A little perturbed by his lack of action, Nabiki first assessed the new girl.

Luan Ko: Nekomata - Lvl 4 Shadow Kunoichi :: Owner: Ranma Saotome

A quick glance would do for that, she had a feeling she ranked low on the totem pole in this world.

The girl was tanned and slender, possessing tan-furred cat-ears and tail as markers of her race. The girl was definitely energetic, scurrying to and fro, exploring and tinkering with various nooks and crannies before moving on. While she had a passing resemblance to Ranma's female form, her hair was cut in a short style more like her own.

Compared to Ranma, her clothing was of the more modest level when it came to quality, though they certainly looked nice. The little sleeveless dark red kimono only came down to mid-thigh, while coincidentally showing off her black thong, but considering the world she was in it looked like something she'd rather be wearing. Flat black stockings and gloves covered her arms and legs, which were in turn covered by dark red cloth bracers and shin guards. The crowning piece was the black scabbarded uchigatana tucked into the black bow of her obi.

In the end though, the cat-girl wasn't doing anything particularly useful, and her 'hero' was just sitting on his duff trying to look thoughtful. "Hey, Saotome, I'm not rescued yet you know! Get a move on!"

Sparing a look at her, Ranma actually made her squirm uncomfortably as he dully stared at her. "If ya don't mind, I need a break. I'm still getting filled in about this by Kasumi. Besides, Luan Ko is still disarming traps and searching for secret doors and stuff. Oh yeah, Kasumi says ya should know this is a level 12 to 24 dungeon."

Staring blankly at him, Nabiki absorbed that information, having assumed she was in a newbie dungeon. Heck, her character's max level was only twenty. How had Ranma made it through if it was that tough? Idly spreading her legs, she watched curiously as the cat-girl fiddled briefly with the lock of the chest she was sitting on, getting a distinct click after only a few seconds. Almost idly the cat-girl lifted the lid of the chest, despite the fact that Nabiki was still perched on it, coincidentally tilting the slave-girl back into the stone wall. This didn't help her mood. "So who's your little friend here Saotome?"

Blinking, Ranma stared at the two girls for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "Oh, Luan Ko. Well, when I entered the game, it couldn't handle the Jusenkyou curse. Then Kasumi said I had way too many disadvantages and stuff, so I lost most of the nekoken garbage and some other stuff. Anyways, she's kinda made from the curse and nekoken I guess, though it ain't like she's a female me. Kasumi says she's a cohort and my pet ninja."

As the cat-girl finished checking out the contents of the chest, she let the lid down after placing a dagger handle in the lip to keep it jarred open. Finding herself sitting comfortably again, Nabiki smirked at Ranma. "Oh, a cure huh? Too bad you're gonna lose it as soon as we leave this stupid game."

Raising an eyebrow, the pigtailed warrior didn't give her the satisfaction of freaking out over her barb. "Dunno what you're talking about. Didn't ya know you'd be stuck as an elf even if you got out of here? The only way to go back to human is to transform in this world, but Kasumi doesn't think you'll be able to manage that. Oh yeah, she wants to know what level of transmigration you used?"

Frowning, Nabiki found herself unable to get into a firmly upset groove with her sex drive distracting her. "What do you mean 'transmigration level'? I didn't even get to choose my class, or do you think I wanted to be a sex-slave?"

Shrugging, the young man failed to respond to the barb once again. "I wasn't gonna ask. Anyways, ya have to have some kinda special thing, kinda like karma for that. I did the best level one cause I could afford it, and I only got to keep about 95% of my martial arts skills and training, so I gotta get some practice in once I have the time."

Almost as an after thought, he added another piece of information before Nabiki could make a reply. "Oh yeah, you should probably know that Kasumi thinks we're not in the computer, but that's it's just acting as a gate to this world."

Feeling a bit worried now, her situation was taking on an increased depth. An actual fantasy world was an entirely different beast from a simple computer generated facsimile of one, though she did have to wonder how she could keep calling up data like Ranma's level and class if that was the case.

More worrying, what exactly had happened during her trip into the game? Had she lost some of her skills and knowledge from the real world? Was it hot in here or what? Would it be too much to ask for a dry pair of panties and maybe some decent clothes?

Sighing happily, Kasumi continued tweaking Ranma's profile, trying to get him just right. While Ranma had to actually okay the changes she made, he still allowed her to have pretty much free play in setting up his character. The only point where he'd said no to her was in getting Ebony and Ivory so he could play a bit of Dante for her.

Still it reminded her of when they first started playing together on the old Super Famicom she used to keep the boredom away when she was out of Romance novels. For him she'd chosen Seiken Denetsu, the Secret of Mana. Ranma of course got to play the male lead, the hero that was an excellent fighter with no magic of his own. She happily played the part of the princess, the pretty female lead with the support magic and decent combat skills.

Even though Ranma used that chance to catch some peace and quiet in the sanctity of her room, he never got as many chances to do so as they liked. Despite the fact they never actually finished the game, spending the quiet time together had been pleasant.

Then Ranma had brought home that strange game system, which he gave her as a gift. For her, the U-Play Station 2.4 had been a godsend, allowing her to play the newer games when she could get a hold of some. More often than not however, it was Ranma that somehow brought home new games for her to play. The most thrilling feature however was the Immersion Engine, allowing Kasumi to not only explore the worlds within the game to her heart's content, but get in more playtime through the usage of time dilation.

That of course had the important notion of being able to make the absolute most of her time available with Ranma.

There were downsides to the immersion feature, particularly the choice of characters. Ranma didn't like playing girls at all, nor wimpy guys or goody two-shoes guys. Generally speaking, despite how overly nice he could be, Ranma liked playing the bad boy type characters, or the anti-hero. He wasn't much for being brooding and dark, but he could do cheerfully evil and have fun.

Admittedly, she had her own preferences for characters she'd play, and they happened to mesh perfectly with Ranma's. A recent favorite had been Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, with Ranma playing the part of Soki, while she took a liking to Ohatsu. Ranma as the strong male lead and her as the pretty girl at his side had become a disturbingly happy pattern for Kasumi's choice of co-op immersive games.

It was just a game though right? There was no reason to feel naughty for enjoying spending a little time with Ranma. It wasn't like Akane would go for such a thing, she'd never settle for such a 'lesser' role, likely turning it into some sort of competition like in real life.

That brought about her current set of thoughts. The world Nabiki and Ranma were in wasn't just an immersive game, but a fantasy world created in the image of a naughty story called Dragon Pink. The computer game was just a a portal for not only getting people into the world, but adapting them to the world via the character creation process.

What happened there was for real. If Nabiki died, she would be reincarnated in that world, possibly even worse off than before. She wasn't playing an elf sex-slave, she was one, and would likely remain so unless she worked with Ranma to improve her new lot in life.

On a more personal level, what would this mean for her when she joined Ranma in that world?

Sighing with a put upon expression, Nabiki got a close up view of the cat-girl's black satin thong. Not that she particularly minded the view, but it mostly made her envious that she wasn't wearing something as comfy.

Of course, she was also putting up with the minor amount of humiliation it involved because the little kunoichi was picking the lock that held her chained to the wall.

In short order the red-head was done with the lock, hopping down to deal with Nabiki's chains. To her surprise however, the cat-girl simply walked over to Ranma and put the end of Nabiki's chains in his hands. As the neo-slave-girl was staring at Ranma, his pet went back to stuffing coins and valuables into a purse while sorting the rest into a chest.

Forcibly overcoming the strange feeling that coursed through her at seeing Ranma holding her chains, the elf spoke up with her more typical voice of superiority. "Very cute Saotome, you think you can just keep me like that?"

Staring at her for a moment, Ranma eventually heaved a put upon sigh. Rescuing Akane was always a hassle for that reason, but he'd thought Nabiki had more sense. "Do you know what kinda situation you're in?"

Sighing, Nabiki decided to cut the lug some slack, heaving a tired sigh herself while once again crossing her arms. "A very annoying one. I'm a frigging prize to a dungeon."

Nodding thoughtfully, Ranma continued getting in contact with Kasumi for reports on his situation. Almost absently he spoke to Nabiki, obviously dodging the subject. "Look, you're stuck as a non-combatant. The only way you've got to improve is to use your skills, and healing is a slow road. I know, we found that out in Makai Kingdom. Anyways, as long as you play the part of helpless slave, ya won't be attacked, and as long as ya pretend to be mine, no one should be trying to claim ya."

A little bit mollified by his attitude and blunt appraisal of the situation, Nabiki instead stuck her hands out, jingling her chains at him. "So do I really have to put up with this junk too?"

Frowning, Ranma nodded his head. "If we get out and to a save point, I can buy some better slave bracelets for you. I was kinda hoping I wasn't gonna actually need them." Reaching behind his back, he pulled a small bundle of white cloth from nowhere, presenting it to the elf. "Here, I got you a nicer outfit at least."

Unbundling the cloth, all she found was a simple pair of white panties and a plain white sundress. Normally she wouldn't be caught dead in something so plain and cheap looking, but considering her current outfit it was a definite upgrade. Despite that, she was distinctly lacking the privacy to change, though that thought suddenly struck her as utterly silly considering that her current outfit was basically transparent.

Looking away, Ranma had some peace and quiet to determine how badly this was going to screw up his life. The whole thing with Nabiki would be a hassle, that much was becoming obvious. He'd probably end up catching hell from both Nabiki and Akane over this.

That was of course assuming he could actually make it out of this dungeon. This whole thing was a bit too much like Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter for his taste, a survival RPG where dying meant starting over from the beginning. It wasn't too horrible as the character ended up reincarnated with some of the stuff carrying over, but it certainly made for a tense experience. Due to the Disgaea element Kasumi had introduced, if he died here he'd be able to reincarnate himself using transmigration as long as he had the mana to fund that. His current incarnation had cost a considerable chunk of that, so he was risking quite a bit unless he could survive long enough to at least recoup that mana.

Of course, Nabiki just had to get herself stuck in a relatively high level dungeon. As powerful as his current incarnation might be, he was actually facing monsters with higher stats here, and that was always a bad thing in Disgaea terms, as unlike other games, characters and enemies used the same damage formulas. His true ace in this whole mess was the impressive number of skills he had available, the combined magnitude of his previous experiences plus some rather nice ones from his new incarnation. Even better, he still pretty much had his old movement ability, which meant he could out maneuver pretty much anything here.

Kasumi's advice had been to go kick the doors in at a beginner dungeon and quickly grab a few levels. Ranma had considered it, but he'd at least wanted to test the waters at Nabiki's dungeon.

So he'd introduced himself to the first monsters he came across, who apparently found a first level character allowing them to surrender peacefully amusing.

Pleasantries out of the way, he'd proceeded to blow his SP with his biggest dark magic sword attack, Dark Sky Crush. The results had been fairly pleasing. From then on in he'd mostly used a special attack that drained health from the enemies, unleashing one more big room clearing attack. As he was busy getting all the attention, Luan Ko quietly scouted for him and dealt with stragglers using surprise and poison weapons.

In the end, it was quick, dangerous, and fairly rewarding, yet by the time he located Nabiki using the most direct path according to Kasumi, he had needed a rest break. Darkening his horizons, he had likely blown through the easiest creatures in the place, so he'd likely be facing tougher odds when he stepped out. Also on the bad side, his little rescue party lacked a healer, with Nabiki being no where near sufficient in that regard.

Blinking in surprise, he finally got the message he'd been waiting for from Kasumi, quickly okaying her setup.

As the cheesy congratulatory music played, Nabiki was apparently able to hear the female voice that chimed in. "Character Generation Complete. Welcome to the World Ranma."

Frowning at her situation in general, despite being in much more comfortable clothes, Nabiki groused at Ranma. "What was that about Saotome?"

Folding up into a more meditative pose, Ranma glanced at the disgruntled elf out of one eye. "Kasumi wanted to create a custom character and stuff for me. We just now finished settling all the details is all."

Closing his eyes, Ranma noted his class title was now Onimusha, fitting in better with his suggestion that Kasumi theme him after Soki, the Oni of Ash. The most important of the final additions was the new Over Drive stat, allowing him to trigger the enhanced Onimusha form from that game. While it was a power boost of extremely limited duration, it had the extra use of acting as a safety net in case of serious injury, capable of triggering to prevent an untimely demise and giving him a little extra time.

Satisfied with his refreshed familiarity with his new form, the young man suddenly stood, examining the the collection of potentially useful items his kunoichi had gathered. Unfortunately he realized this world was the type where he couldn't tell if a random sword was enchanted or cursed.

Sighing, he closed the chest, preparing to move on. Looking over at Nabiki however, he realized he had a slight wrinkle in his plans. Deciding it was for the best, he stepped over to Nabiki and started popping the pins out of her iron manacles. "It's a bit risky, but we're best off making a break out of here with you being able to run. Just stay behind me and out of trouble okay?"

Stunned into silence by his casual removal of her irons, the elf mutely rubbed some feeling back into the places where the iron had been digging into her flesh. Sensing the growing seriousness of the situation, she simply nodded her assent to him.

Glancing over towards the cat-girl, he gave her the signal to go stealthy, something the red-head did immediately as she crouched near the door, fading in the shadows.

Smirking, Ranma drew the demon sword Lamentation from his back before taking a deep breath. Feeling himself slip into the proper attitude, the young warrior prepared to reintroduce himself to the presumably waiting monsters outside.

Grinning a bit wider, he simply kicked the large door off its hinges, the massive slab crashing to the floor with a deafening thud. With a suitably evil grin, he planted one leg on the fallen door before leaning forward, sword casually resting on his shoulder. The dust cloud and noise from the door obscured the little ninja as she slipped into the room, leaving Ranma to make a suitably malevolent impression upon whatever was in the room beyond.

Fanning herself, Kasumi watched raptly as Ranma got into the whole bad-boy attitude. Seeing him grin like that, she couldn't wait until she could get into the game herself.

by The Demented Redhead

With the way Ranma had been acting before he kicked open the door, Nabiki had half expected an army of monsters from hentai and darker anime to be waiting for them.

"Owie."

She did not expect to see them being small in number, bleeding, and now one more apparently dying thanks to where the door had landed.

"Well," grumbled Ranma, his demon sword Lamentation still being held at the ready, "I don't know if I should be let down or glad for this."

Nabiki barely noticed the little nekomata appearing before some of the slowly recovering monsters, before said beasts slowly settled back down, now dead. She could sense the EP of both Luan Ko and Ranma growing as the high level monsters finally bit the dust, the experience being divided between those who had fought the battle. If such was the truth for this fantasy world, then that meant she'd need to have something that could allow her to share in the wealth of experience without actually fighting. "I don't want to be a pain, Saotome," she said, "but I don't think we should be staying here too long."

Ranma nodded as he used a standard attack, saving his MP, and dispatched several of the monsters still alive. "Yeah, the moment these guys are finished, the dungeon will try and dispatch some more to the area. If we're lucky, it won't be before we can get out."

Kasumi continued to build her character, as well as monitor Ranma's exit from the high level dungeon. Normally, it would be suicide for a low level player to even attempt to look around this type of high level dungeon; it was almost asking to have to restart.

But Ranma hadn't been going in to defeat the main villain, only a small subordinate who had somehow captured Nabiki.

So her sister was now likely stuck as an elf sex slave. Okay, could have been worse. Kasumi had seen far more things in RPG that Nabiki could have ended up as, many of which would have had her killed when she returned to the Real World.

Of course, now her sister belonged to Ranma, a condition that could very well carry over once they left the world, unless they found a way to rewrite Nabiki's character.

Oh well, she couldn't worry about that at the moment, sending Ranma a warning how the game help line hadn't been able to offer much help, but did warn that the karma component of the game may not allow someone to leave if reborn in the world.

"That wasn't nice of them to do," she muttered. Why stick people with bad karma in this fantasy world? Didn't that just bring down that world?

Shaking her head, she turned back to creating her own character. The faster she finished, the quicker she could join them and help, and the time dilation effect could start up, thus giving them more time than the simple few hours she knew they'd have before someone returned to either attack, make a pass at, or other such things for Ranma.

Of course, it did offer other possibilities. After all, what happened in the World, stayed in the World.

And after all, she was quite certain Nabiki would need to be ... broken in. And as her sister, it was Kasumi's duty to ensure it was done right.

If anyone had been watching, they would have been surprised to see the evil smirk forming on Kasumi's face.

But then again, how many people could take a sweet and innocent character and make them one of the biggest causes of blood, death, and carnage among the enemies of an RPG?

by Errol Peregrinus

Kasumi checked herself out in the full length mirror. This was the first time she had complete freedom over her appearance, as well as Ranma's. Cooperating with Ranma, Kasumi had helped him find something he admired very much. Now, it was her turn, and she was eager to see how good she looked. Inside the mirror, there stood an image of Kasumi rarely seen at the dojo. Gone was the perfect little house maiden that lived a quiet life. Looking back at her was a Kasumi that, until then, only existed in her deepest fantasies and fondest daydreams.

The first thing she noticed was not her soft, white robes. What caught her eyes first was the extravagant Viking helm she wore upon her head. Open faced, it was a metal skull cap that covered her head and ears. A sheet or curtain of chain mail fell to her shoulders. However, the most apparent fixture to her helmet were broad wings of eagle feathers that stretched back behind her from just above her ears. Hovering in between the wing tips was a glowing disc of gold, much like that found in old paintings of Christian saints. The metal of her helm shined like polished silver, as did the metal of her plate armor peeking through her robes. Opening up her robes more, Kasumi saw how her armor fitted upon her figure. Articulate, ornamented, and tastefully decorated, the armor seemed to accentuate and flatter her figure and called attention to her bust line and cleavage in ways she has only ever seen before on professional models in catalogs. Her armored leggings and thigh high armor boots looked so amazingly feminine, it took her breath away. Her knee length scale armor skirt was not unlike that which was worn by the samurai of history. Except, no samurai ever looked as good in one as she did. The only thing Kasumi could not see, but she knew was there because she could feel the soft silkiness of the fabric, was her harem outfit that she had also chosen to wear. Kasumi did wonder if it continued the white and gold theme of her armor or not.

Kasumi gazed appreciatively at her outfit. She was really pleased to see how well the equipment she chosen looked on her. Kasumi thought that the whole thing looked like something that would be made by a culture that accepted females as both warriors and women. Her only accessories, that she had the luxury of owning, was her sword, her bow, and a necklace. It was a golden choker, a Viking style torc with eastern dragon heads on the ends. Looking at what she was wearing with a soft sigh, Kasumi felt she was every bit the battle hardened warrior she appeared to be. The ensemble was very fetching, and Kasumi noticed how much more exciting it was compared to what she owned in real life.

Satisfied she would make the proper impression in battle, she called up her stats.

Kasumi - Angelic Magic Knight

Level 1 - Angelic Magic Knight HP 96 SP 36 ATK 36 INT 36 HIT 36 DEF 44 RES 44 SPD 44

Equipment (4/4) Seraph Blade ATK/INT+12 Allows Magic, Holy Seraph Bow ATK/HIT+12 Holy

Seraphim Robe DEF/RES+10 SP/INT+2 Resist Dark Valkyrie Armor DEF+12 HP+10 Resist Death/Curse Harem Silks DEF/RES+8 Allows Healing Golden Collar ALL+4 Connection to Owner: Ranma

Turning to the door, 'I can't keep Ranma-kun and little sister waiting. I hope they are not in any kind of trouble.' Stepping through the door, she found herself in the middle of a town's square. 'New Charia Village,' she identified the place. It was where all new players begin their games. Right now, she knew Ranma would be working his way out of the dungeon Nabiki was caught in. However, that dungeon was not nearby. To reach it required a trip south through the forests, around some mountains, and across a bridge. However, Nabiki was deep into the dungeon, about halfway through a maze like warren of tunnels and dead ends. Kasumi expected Ranma to get into a couple battles at least on his way out. He might also make a wrong turn or two as well without her to guide him through the maze. That should give her time to run down to the dungeon and meet up with them, hopefully before they get into any real trouble. She knew there were players who would take advantage of other players that found themselves in over their heads, especially if they had something desirable.

As Kasumi started to leave town., she walked past a mask shop. The window display, full of garish and understated masks, caught her eye, prompting her to stop and look for a moment. Feeling the weight of her money bag, Kasumi started to grin wickedly. 'Maybe... maybe I have time for a quick stop. Should be a fun joke to play on Ranma.' She laughed to herself with a mischievous smile on her face and a glint to her eye.

Nabiki surveyed the dead, or dying, monsters as Ranma held a finger to his lips, signaling to Nabiki to stay quiet. Luan Ko and Ranma turned left and began to walk down the corridor. Nabiki stayed close to Ranma as Luan Ko went ahead to scout. Nervous and frightened herself, Nabiki could not help noticing how worried Ranma seemed to be. A loud meow broke through the stillness of the hall. Ranma stiffened, "That was Luan Ko, raising an alarm, stay back. You can't fight and I don't think the monsters will attack you either."

Suddenly, a small group of monsters sprung upon Ranma as he pulled out his sword and beheaded the leader. Dancing to the side, Ranma avoided most blows while dealing out punches and kicks to his enemies. Spinning into a back kick, Ranma launched an orc that had overextended on his ax chop. Jumping back, Ranma used some of his MP to launch an attack that damages groups. "Almost out of MP," Ranma muttered to himself. Ranma also noticed how much tougher these orcs were compared to what he ran into before. Sidekicking an orc, Ranma then sidestepped another orc before sweeping its legs out from under it. Rising block an overhead chop with his left arm, Ranma shoved his sword into that orc's gut. Not taking time to remove his sword from the dying orc, Ranma spun around and front kicked another orc. Pulling the sword out now, from behind him, Ranma swept it upwards, cleaving through the jawbone and snout of the stunned orc. Spinning and bringing the sword back down, Ranma beheaded another orc before he jumped over the orcs behind him. It was hard work to not get surrounded and mobbed by the orcs, but they were losing numbers fast. Meanwhile, Luan Ko was just as busy and just as deadly as Ranma.

Finally, the fight ended. Ranma was beginning to really feel his fatigue. Worse, being out in the open like this, he knew he did not have the luxury of time to let Nabiki try to heal him. If another group of monsters were to come upon them while they were distracted by the healing magic, Ranma knew it may mean there end. 'Maybe,' Ranma thought, 'I can try to avoid or run from the next few encounters. Surely I should make escaping with Nabiki my first priority.' Cleaning his blade before sheathing it, Ranma signaled Nabiki to follow as he turned to continue on out. Luan Ko once again disappeared into the shadows as she went ahead as an advance guard. Ranma swore as he looked around. 'Where is Kasumi? How long will it take for her to get here? Did she find trouble she couldn't handle?' Ranma worried. He kept imagining Kasumi rushing down to meet them, falling into an ambush of newbie hunters.

A scraping noise arose from around the corner. Scowling, Ranma put Nabiki behind him as he turned to look deeper into the dungeon. With grunts and growls, a band of goblins came into view. A hobgoblin lead them at the point, and two orc guards with spears offered range support. Ranma swore softly as their leader made eye contact with him. He knew that he wouldn't be avoiding this battle.

With a shout, Ranma charges into the monsters, brandishing his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Luan Ko jumping in as well as she tosses poison tipped darts at the goblins. It is not long before the noise of battle rings and echoes among the walls of the dungeon.

Vance paused, holding up a hand to signal to his guys to stop. "That sounds like fighting, lets quietly scout out the action." While this group usually waits to enter a dungeon until they feel confident they can handle it by being a few levels above what it takes, the stories of the special treasures and slaves found within this dungeon enticed Vance to take a chance. Creeping up to a corner, they took a cautious peek.

"Whoa, that guy's a newbie. What a fool for coming here, he's just asking to become monster chow," Vance's second in command snorted. "Nice armor for a newb, though. I say we just help the inevitable and kill him for it."

"Do you guys see that? There's a slave-girl up against the wall. The newb somehow managed to get himself something from this deathtrap. She is one fine looking piece o' meat too." Vance said, leering suggestively to his friends.

"Hey, she isn't wearing any slave chains. That moron newb took them off of her. That means that we can just take her for ourselves while he is busy with those goblins." This was said by a mousy but crafty party member who goes by the name of Hroggarf in this world.

"Yeah, good point. Those stupid computer operated bots would follow anyone's commands if not kept on a leash. We can just walk up to her and ask her to follow us," said the second in command, a smarmy, oily guy known only as Killinger. "We don't even have to kill a newb this time to get some goods. Though after we take his girl, I still think we should get his armor."

"Bah, I bet he is stupid enough to try to hunt us down. Let him come to us. I just wanna grab the girl and go, so we can pass her around like a cheap bottle of fireberry wine. What do you think, guys?" In response he got a lot of nodding heads and snickers. With all the commotion going on, it was ever so easily for the guys to walk cautiously along the wall, right up to Nabiki. "Hey Hunny, if you come with us quietly, we'll show you what a real man is like," Vance whispered into Nabiki's ear.

Nabiki jerked up straight, eyes wide in shock. While her submissive side wanted to obey, Nabiki did not prefer to be the property of just any old pervert who comes along. Rough hands grabbed her, and tried to pull her away from Ranma, as the rest of the group started to encircle her, preventing escape.

"Come along, we'll get you out of here, babycakes ... for a price, that is," Vance chuckled at his own joke.

"RANMA!" Nabiki cried out as loud as she could, terrified of the men surrounding her.

Vance scowled, bots were not programmed to resist, or to prefer a master. He was not worried, the remaining goblins and the newbie fighting them would not be a match for him or his party. His men were all at level 15, this fight would be over quickly, he predicted.

Ranma had just back kicked the hobgoblin leader and was proceeding to elbow strike it in the face when he heard Nabiki's scream. 'Aargh,' Ranma thought to himself as he grunted while planting his elbow into a hobgoblin's nose, 'what is it now?' Jumping up and back, he saw some men grappling with Nabiki as she struggled to get away. Ranma sent some Möko Takabisha at the men, but an orc took advantage of the distraction and whacked Ranma from behind with a big club. Ranma was knocked into the dungeon wall, dazing him for a second and causing him to lose his grip on his sword.

Meanwhile, Luan Ko leaped at the men with a feral meow and a hiss. She kicked the man, Vance, who was holding Nabiki and was trying to carry her away. Her foot landed a solid blow to his face, and the second lightning quick follow up kick landed squarely on his side over his right kidney, while the third and fourth kick targeted his thigh, and her final kick impacted his knee. Vance collapsed from the sudden assault with Nabiki landing on top of him.

Ranma, by this time, had already just gotten up and was forced to dodge a couple goblins who tried attacking while he was down. One of the Goblins savagely thrusted his sword at Ranma, who sidestepped the attack and grabbed the goblin's arm. Ranma threw the goblin into a couple of the men around Nabiki. Another of the men was making a grab for Nabiki, so Ranma jump kicked him. However, Ranma then had to duck under a swipe from an orc's club. Spinning around, Ranma front kicked the orc in his groin and rising kicked the orc's chin. While the orc blinked in a dazed state, Ranma did a jumping spin kick to the orc's head followed by rapid punches to the kidneys. The orc took one step and stumbled to the ground unconscious. However, without Luan Ko keeping the goblins busy, two of them found an opportunity to tackle Ranma, and bodily bring him to the floor.

Luan Ko, at this time, had stabbed a man in his lungs with a poison tipped skewer and used her claws to rip another man's throat out. Luan Ko was standing protectively over Nabiki, who was curled up against a wall, shaking in fright. Nabiki was afraid, but not of just dying in some strange place far from home. She was also afraid of what those men wanted, but more importantly she was more afraid of being taken away from Ranma, losing Ranma, or even of Ranma dying. Ranma was the only person she knew she could trust and Nabiki did not like to think how well she could survive this world with him to help her. And Nabiki's biggest fear, was the fear that she would never be able to go home again. She knew from Ranma that Kasumi was coming. She also noticed how Ranma became more stressed the longer that it took Kasumi to show up. Nabiki was also afraid that her sister found herself in a situation like this fight, and not being a fighter or even street smart, she was now in trouble. Nabiki worried she would never see any of her family again, and it looked like that Ranma, the closest thing to family she had left, was too tired to fight and was being overwhelmed. Nabiki feared she would die alone far from home.

Thankfully, Ranma threw the goblins off from on top of him. Rolling over and launching himself into the air, he spent some more MP launching a couple Möko Takabisha into the goblins. Two goblins did not rise again. Picking up a sword from the ground, Ranma threw it into the head of one of the men that accosted Nabiki, killing him. The hobgoblin, wheezing through a broken nose, rushed Ranma from behind while swinging his battle axe. He never made it as several arrows suddenly sprouted from his chest, twanging as they vibrated. The hobgoblin fell over with a shocked grunt.

Luan Ko was knocked away from Nabiki, and one of the men suddenly and impatiently grabbed at Nabiki only to drop dead on top of her. Nabiki screamed as she saw the bloody arrows sticking out from his head, neck, and back, piercing the armor. Nabiki stopped screaming when Luan Ko had heaved the dead body off of her, and threw it at a nearby goblin. Nabiki noticed that Luan Ko looked less wounded and more energetic then a few moments before. Looking for Ranma, she noticed that Ranma seemed to have found his second wind. Scanning the battlefield, she noticed a newcomer had joined the fight and seemed to be helping them. Nabiki only hoped that the cost for such help would not be too high.

Nabiki was enthralled in how this newcomer fought. He wore armor that appeared Nordic, with a strange mask guarding his face. 'Probably vain about his looks and afraid to spoil his face,' Nabiki thought derisively. However, this new warrior was poetry in motion. As smooth and graceful in battle as Ranma was. In fact, they worked well together, instinctively moving as a team. With his bow, he had already thinned the numbers down of their enemies. Now, he and Ranma fought off the others as they watched each others back. Meanwhile, Luan Ko protected Nabiki and no longer had to keep an eye out on Ranma. Soon, the enemies were defeated other then a couple who managed to run away.

Ranma stalked over to the only man still conscious or alive. Two broken legs took him out of the fight. "Now, you are going to tell me what it was you were planning on doing with my friend," Ranma growled.

"W-w-was ju-just going to take your slave. That's all." The man stammered, feeling intimidated by the fierce look on Ranma's face.

"So, you like to steal from others? You are pathetic." Ranma spat angrily.

"Just doing what the boss wants. He rewards well those who bring him rare or powerful items. It is nothing others don't do, anyways."

"Well, I wouldn't dishonor myself by being a thief. And you are lucky I won't dishonor myself by killing you. Your boss better hope I don't meet him." Ranma then stood up and walked away from the man. Ranma joined Luan Ko and the new guy in examining the dead bodies.

Nabiki looked around her. Goblins, orcs, and heroes laid dead or dying all about. Ranma, Luan Ko, and the mysterious hero were busy looting the bodies for spoils. Nabiki had noticed that the newcomer and Ranma fought well together. However, Nabiki could only shiver at the memory of the ruthlessness and viciousness in battle the newcomer showed, and Nabiki thought she could feel his eyes on her.

"Nice slave. Maybe I'll take her as payment for my help," the mysterious stranger grunted to Ranma. Nabiki eeped at this and tried to hide behind an unconcerned Luan Ko.

"You're scaring the spit out of her, Kasumi," Ranma admonishes the other fighter.

"KASUMI!" Nabiki shouted in shock. "That was a rotten joke," Nabiki groused as the stranger removed her mask, revealing a giggling Kasumi.

Tossing the mask towards Nabiki, "Here you go, something to wear." Kasumi then broke down into more laughter.

"I don't see what is so funny," Nabiki complained.

"You need to relax more and enjoy the game, little sister. Come on Ranma, let's head to a nearby town, you look like you could use some rest and healing. Seems little sister is not doing her job as a healer." Kasumi stood up, done looting the last of the bodies, "They don't have anything worth keeping, at least we can sell the junk in town."

"Yeah, I can't wait to get out of here, and find a safe place to rest," Ranma agreed. "How much time do we have to find a way to get Nabiki out of this world before people notice we're missing?"

"I turned the Time Dilation on when I logged in, so we should have about a week or two our time." Kasumi then stopped and got a worried look to her face. "I don't think anyone will find the laptop, I hid it in my room. I also found a plug that fit, so we don't have to worry about the battery dieing on us. However, I'd like to get back before Akane decides to cook dinner."

Ranma gave a look to Nabiki before turning to face Kasumi, "Even if we get back in time to stop Akane, you may still not have enough time to cook much, anyways. Either way, we'll be orderin' out."

The group chattered among themselves as they headed towards the exit. Luan Ko dissolved once again into the shadows and maintained point guard in advance of the gang. As they approached the exit, Ranma's pet kunoichi nekomata appeared briefly, just long enough to give Ranma a cryptic hand signal. "Shh. Slow done guys, Luan Ko says there is a group of enemies by the way out," Ranma whispered.

The battle by the entrance was anti-climatic and was over soon after it started. Not only were the monsters not especially difficult, but the addition of a fresh Kasumi to the group really seemed to make a difference. Nabiki could not help noticing how well her sister and Ranma fought together. Upon exiting the dungeon and reaching fresh air, Nabiki closed her eyes and turned to face the cheerful sun. Ranma stretched some kinks out as Luan Ko blinked in the bright light and cutely mewed her pleasure of the sun's warming rays. After a few moments, Nabiki opened her eyes to see Kasumi and Ranma sitting by a tree with Luan Ko curled up in the sun.

"You know Saotome, I can heal you ... for a price," Nabiki said as she approached the others. She shuddered as she remembered the guy whispering that phrase to her. 'For a price' used to be her catch phrase. Something she knew she could use to scare people, if need be, and now it scared her. However, Nabiki was sure that she would not let this place change her. By falling to her old ways, Nabiki thought she could return to what she once was.

"No problem, Nabiki, I should be able to make that money back when I sell you off at the slave markets," Ranma replied with a smirk.

"You wouldn't dare!" Nabiki huffed, surprised that Ranma handled that so well.

"What do you think Kasumi, trade her in for a model that can work as part of a team? Got any opinions on this, Luan Ko?" Ranma looked at them to see smiling and nodding of heads. "OK, the Ayes have it, we'll use Nabiki's trade in value to subsidize getting a better make of sex slave," Ranma joked.

"You too, Kasumi! Fine, fine. I didn't think that would of work anyways. When did you get smarter?" Nabiki capitulated.

"We were able to boost all of Ranma's stats, including his intelligence, at the cost of lots of mana," Kasumi explained to Nabiki.

"Wait a minute... You mean you hacked Ranma's character? How did you even know how to do that?" Nabiki was a little outraged that she did not discover such useful loophole when she stumbled into the game. "I wouldn't have thought that Ranma would ever agree to any kind of power-up he never honestly earned."

"How else were we going to transmigrate all of my martial arts skills into the game character? Plus, I seemed to have had lots of mana to spend, maybe you didn't have enough," Ranma responded.

Nabiki looked thoughtful for a moment, before moving to kneel by Ranma. "OK, whatever. Too late now to change anything. I'm going to try a minor healing and also I want to try fatigue removal." Nabiki held her hands over Ranma and concentrated before chanting softly. A warm glow suffused her hands as she felt energy moving from her center to her arms and out her hands. Ranma glowed briefly, feeling better already, and Nabiki felt some experience flow into her. Not much though. She then concentrated some more and attempted to remove fatigue. The glow on her hands changed color slightly towards a neutral white, and again she felt the flow of energy from her to Ranma pass through her hands. And once more, she felt that she had earned some experience points.

Turning to Luan Ko, Nabiki repeated the procedure, but when it came time to remove Luan Ko's fatigue, she no longer felt any energy flow. In fact, she felt sort of empty inside, and quite tired herself. Slumping over and blowing out her breath, Nabiki apologized, "Sorry Ranma, I think that is all I have in me for now."

"It's OK, don't overwork yourself. We can rest up here or at a nearby town. Town's are safer to rest in. Many monsters and less then honorable players would attack any one they caught sleeping unguarded," Ranma told Nabiki. "At least, in an inn, you have a locked door to keep people out."

"Some games let you bribe the innkeeper to sneak you into someone else's room, though. So we should not be too complacent," Kasumi warned.

"I did not get very much experience for healing you. It will take forever, at this rate, to level up. How else can I get experience, anyways? Why can't I logout properly?" Now that she was safe outside of her cell, Nabiki was worrying about getting home soon.

"For a slave, such as yourself, one such way to level up is by being a good slave. In this game, you would get lots of experience for serving your master," Kasumi lectured, "because slaves are items and can not fight to level up. At least, as far as I know, that is the only way."

Nabiki sighed. She was walking in between Kasumi and Ranma. Luan Ko, who had previously bounded ahead of the walking group, was playing in a field chasing a butterfly. Nabiki noticed that Ranma was still vigilant, scanning the space around him, even though the road was very quiet and no one else was around. Before they got too far from Luan Ko, she stopped chasing the butterfly and happily bounded once more ahead of the group. The road they were on led to a nearby town. The road sign they passed twenty minutes prior had said it was named 'South Town'. A remarkably uninspired name, or so Nabiki thought.

It was not long before they had reached South Town. Upon entering the town, they had met an old man who was just standing around, doing nothing aimlessly.

"Good day, sir." Ranma greeted the man.

"Welcome to South Town, travelers. A once prosperous town, we have hit some hard times. After the dreaded drought, the South River dried up. Then, bandits and ogres started to raid our lands and town. The Bandit King has made his stronghold in an abandoned Wizard's tower to the northeast. To the west is R'aul's Dungeon. Please enjoy your stay." Once the old man had finished talking, he returned to staring at nothing with glassy, unfocused eyes.

"Any bathhouses here, sir?" Nabiki asked, wanting to wash away the dust and grime on her skin.

"Welcome to South Town, travelers. A once prosperous town, we have hit some hard times. After the dreaded drought, the South River dried up. Then, bandits and ogres started to raid our lands and town. The Bandit King has made his stronghold in an abandoned Wizard's tower to the northeast. To the west is R'aul's Dungeon. Please enjoy your stay." The old man repeated himself before returning to his dazed stare. In fact, Nabiki got the same response for anything she tried to say, leading her to believe the man was hard of hearing.

Ranma and Kasumi looked on in amusement as Nabiki got frustrated. "Don't bother, little sister. He is only programmed to say that one thing. Let us enter this town, where we shall meet more people who will only say one thing. Most will probably say something similar. Someone might know something about the Bandit King or R'aul. We may even find a mini-sidequest. Perhaps saving a lost kitten from some goblins in a mine or something," Kasumi explained to Nabiki.

"Come, we should look for a weapon's shop to sell this junk, we should look at some equipments, and we need to find an Inn, too. Maybe we can figure out where we want to go next." Ranma interjected.

The group was now heading into a shop, having just sold the equipments they looted from the dead bodies back in the dungeon. 'What was it that Ranma called it?' Nabiki thought to herself, 'Ah yes, Dumping the Booty.'

The store that Ranma and Kasumi turned to go into had a plain, but clean, front. The sign proclaimed, 'Armor, Clothing, and Equipment'. Inside, a buxom blond beauty manned the counter. She wore a blue corset over a frilly, lacy, white camisole. However, both were midriff baring, and besides accentuating her perky, gravity defying bosom they revealed toned and tanned abs. The rest of her outfit was out of sight, hidden by the counter. It was easy, though, to imagine her bottomless as all you saw was skin where her body disappeared behind the counter. Although her hair was worn up, curly, golden tendrils fell to frame her delicate face. Blue eyes shined from her face like a pair of sapphire pools of water. Pouty lips pursed as the counter maiden checked out the incoming customers. Nabiki could not help the visceral response her body was experiencing, and she felt betrayed once again by her body, which was being turned on by the understated gracefulness of the store owner.

"How may I help you?" The maiden politely asked.

"I am looking to buy clothing for my slave, as well as a nicer looking slave collar. May I see what you have?" Ranma asked, while looking around the store.

"I hope you find something to your liking," the blonde said as she laid a thick book out onto the counter. Flipping it open, Ranma started to peruse through the catalog. Nabiki, looking over Ranma's shoulder, could see that each page showed a picture of an item with a name and price underneath it. Ranma hastily flipped through potions of all kinds, camping equipment, and amulets and jewelry before coming to clothing. Ranma kept flipping until the clothes had the word slave in its name.

"Slave rags, Slave halter, Slave skirt ... is that even a skirt? Looks like half of a necktie. -Slave's see-thru sun-dress, Harem rags, Harem cottons, Harem velvets, Harem silks-" Ranma was interrupted by Kasumi.

"Ooh, looks like the one I have."

Ranma and Nabiki stared at Kasumi for a moment before Ranma just shook his head and returned to the book. Nabiki raised her eyebrow at Kasumi.

"... Slave's skin- That looks like it is painted on ... oh it is! -Slave's sweat... huh, magical water that keeps the slave clean? Who would spend 5,000 gold pieces so their slave can wear nothing at all but some moisture? Slave's suds, let me guess, for that soapy look? Slave belts- So, an extra wide belt worn low on the hips and extra wide belt wrapped around the breasts, with a leash attached. Who designs these things? Ah, here we go, corsets, skirts, sandals, normal things. All designed for sex slaves too. Kasumi, what color do you think would look best on Nabiki?" Ranma stopped flipping the pages on a picture of a strapless mini-dress. It was pleated, flouncy, and slitted up both legs to the bottom of where the ribs would be. Only 2 inches of material formed a band at the top that would hold the dress up. One good gust of wind and Nabiki would be wearing it more as a flag then a dress.

"Light green would go well with her elven looks," Kasumi answered.

"No way am I wearing that hideous travesty of fashion!" Nabiki retorted, angry that Ranma would pick something so exploitative, even if it was better then a lot of the clothes he passed over.

"Hahaha," Ranma chuckled. "Just kidding, it would only look decent if you never moved about, hehe." Nabiki just rolled her eyes and suppressed a sigh. Ranma turned the page again, finding a more normal looking outfit. A small low riding thong that got the job done, a micro skirt that did cover the important bits if just barely, and a midriff bearing tube top that was really just an elastic chest binding. It, at least, promised to be decent in a stiff wind, even if a lot of skin was on display. Ranma turned the page again, finding an outfit reminiscent of Bavarian beer wenches. It revealed a lot of leg and arm, but it did cover a whole lot more then the previous entry. "Too frilly," was Ranma's evaluation of the outfit. The next page had a simple, silk, sleeveless dress that fell above the knees. "500 gold pieces. A Slave Temple Dress, to be worn when bringing one's sex slave to a place of worship. Not needed at temples dedicated to sex gods," Ranma read from the entry. "I want this one, does it come in light green?"

The seller reached under the counter and pulled out a light green version of the dress, with red embroidering on the hems and trimmings. Ranma returned to looking in the book. Flipping some more, Ranma found where the section of slave irons and chains. "I guess I'll have to replace those cuffs I took off of you. So no one else tries to take you away, again. I'd like a pair of the Genie Wrist Cuffs. Magically keep you within a 50 foot radius of me without hampering mobility. Importantly, not hampering MY mobility. I can't fight if I have to hold your leash all the time. I also would like this silver Etruscan chain leash. Can I get it in the 2 axis version? The leash will be good for walking about outside of battles. I also want to get a slave collar to hook the leash onto, the silver one with the emerald. Also, light green silk slippers as well, please."

"Not a bad looking combo, Saotome. I could live with those choices," Nabiki evaluated the items on the counter, "At least the leash does not look like it belongs on a dog."

"Would you like your name engraved on the collar? It is only 5 gold pieces extra to get it done, and many owners usually opt to get it done." The girl at the counter asked as she totaled up the purchase.

"Can I get my gold collar engraved with his name too?" Kasumi asked while taking her torc off.

"Certainly, as long as he is your owner." The girl responded. Nabiki raised an eyebrow at that revelation.

After paying for all of the items, the group left the shop. "That was a lot of things to buy at once. I always new little sister was high maintenance." Kasumi said that last part with a smirk. "Luckily we still have plenty of money left and can afford to stay at an inn tonight. You did well, got a good haul at that dungeon, Ranma." Kasumi mentioned after finishing counting what was left in the belt purse. "Where to next? Maybe I should buy myself a cute, cuddly pet cat like you got, Ranma," Kasumi said with a mischievous smile. "Maybe a nice warcat. I hope it looks like a black leopard or cheetah. Or perhaps a battle-boar. I could name it Pig-kun." Kasumi chuckled at her weak joke. Ranma and Nabiki just rolled their eyes.

Nabiki was carrying all of the new purchases in a haversack. The only thing Ranma had put on her was the collar and chain leash. "I don't see why I have to be a pack mule," Nabiki groused. However, she did notice she got a bare amount of experience points when Ranma handed the sack over to her and she took it without question.

"Come on, let's go eat at the inn. I'm hungry. Also, we can probably find people to talk to and get an idea of where to go next. Maybe see if anyone knows how we can get Nabs out of this game."

Nabiki sighed. She was left at the bar with Luan Ko holding her leash while Kasumi went off to find an empty table and Ranma went to talk to a group of some adventurers. Sitting next to Nabiki was an unshaven man, looking sad or depressed, staring into his beer. Nabiki cursed to herself, 'Damn this libido attribute!' Nabiki was even turned on by the bum sitting next to her. Trying to start some small talk, Nabiki turned to the man and said, "Nice little town, you have here."

The depressed man sighed, "Times are Tough."

"Er... yes, I suppose. However it can be hard to tell. Just look at all the people here tonight. Surely, the inn is doing some good business?"

"*Sigh* Times are tough."

Nabiki was stymied for a moment. She was confused if he was one of those non player people, or maybe he was just a weirdo. Luan Ko diverted Nabiki's attention away from the strange man with a gentle tug to the leash. Raucous laughter erupted from where Ranma was talking to some guys and Nabiki looked over his way for a moment.

Ranma was enjoying himself. He was in mixed company, meaning he was among elves, dwarves, and humans of all kinds. Not only were they all social and fun to talk with, but also willing to buy and share drinks with any of their fellow adventurers. Dereth'kin, a tall, brown skinned, white haired elf, summoned, with a gesture, a bar maid. She was curly red-headed, freckled, wearing a white short sleeved and poofy blouse over a black skirt. Buying another round of house ale for everyone, Dereth'kin turned to Ranma and asked, "Have thee any jovial story to tell us, friend Ranma?"

Ranma immediately thought of a joke he heard from some Marines in Okinawa. "Well, I know of this one story. Where I am from, we have something called fraternities. Sort of a brotherhood, but among friends. And one of the things these groups of friends enjoy is partying, dancing, having a good time, those sorts of things." Ranma began, explaining a bit about fraternities.

"Yes, we have a similar thing too, down in the mines," one dwarf interjected. The dwarf went on to add, "After a long work cycle digging, carving, and hauling metal ore, it is nice to be able to blow some steam with your friends. Usually these are the blokes you dig with, your dig-crew and shaft-mates. And, I speak for all dwarves when I say this, but the bonds you form working and drinking with your boys are just as strong as any bond among real brothers." The dwarves present all nodded at this.

"Yes, even among the elves, we have something like these fraternities. A brotherhood of friends. Usually formed young, during our adolescence, while attending an educational school of some sort. More like a gang, really, but in the nicer sense of that word. Not every elf choses to be in one. And these gangs are known for pulling pranks or breaking rules, time to time. But all in good taste and good fun. I still keep in contact with those I used to run with. I do so fondly remember that time in my life. The pranks we pulled! The parties, trying to impress the girls, sneaking drinks of fireberry wine or of strongwater. The girls usually had their little cliques too. This one gang of girls, they called themselves 'The Pink Eyes', hung out with us often. So whenever we went out for some fun, they usually joined us. Real good girls, all of them. We were all just kids, anyhow, having some fun." Galith'noth, another elf there, sighed in reminiscence.

"Good, so you all understand how when you let a new guy join, you have to give him a bit of a hard time. We called it, hazing." Ranma noticed how everyone around him nodded their heads while smirking at some old memory. "So, there was this party thrown by the fraternity to welcome its new members. And, of course, each member got a sort of challenge. So for this one guy, they gave him a six-pack of ale bottles..."

"Six-pack?" One of the listeners asked.

"Er... Where I hail from, they sell bottles of beer and ale in packs of 6, cases of 12, and so on. This way, you can bring them home to drink another time," Ranma explained. Seeing everyone was still following him, Ranma continued. "So they gave him a lot of beer to drink. They told him to drink the beer, go into the countryside to wrestle a bear..."

"Haha, how dwarvish of you humans. Wrestle a bear, he he. Seems much to dangerous though, for a prank," Goldwyn said.

Dereth'kin replied, "Nay, we elves do the self-same thing. Tis a nonsense quest. Usually there lies no bears about. Actually it is trolls, and not bears, that we send out to hunt. Tis the same idea, though. And should there be trolls about, the elf has not the idea on how to find one. So the elf always ends up lost in the woods until morning." At this, everyone broke into laughters. "I do so find pleasure in sending someone out on a 'Troll Hunt'."

"A wild goose chase, we call it." Ranma continued his story. "So, he had to drink a lot of beer, wrestle a bear, then finally he was to sleep with a fat, ugly girl." At this, everyone broke into laughter again. "So, he drinks the 6-pack and then stumbles off to go find him a bear. Now, he doesn't return that night but his fraternity is not expecting to see him 'til the next day, anyways. The next day comes and goes, so that by the following night, his new brothers are worried about him. Finally he shows up on the second day, all dirty and covered in scratches, his clothes torn and ripped. He looks to be in quite the bad shape. So, when his brothers open the door and sees him, he says, 'So, where is this fat, ugly chick I have to wrestle?'" At this, everyone breaks out into deep laughter. The dwarves bang their mugs on the table tops while Galith'noth tries to catch his breath.

Dereth'kin wipes the tears from his eyes. "Surely, friend Ranma, that is a good story. And a great inspiration for jokes."

"That was a good story, Ranma. Reminds me of the time me and my friends got this bloke we did not like much drunk. After he passed out, we snuck him into the village overboss's house. We left him, naked, in the first bedroom we found. The next morning, the overboss awoke to find a naked man in bed with his mother." The group broke into peals of laughter at Goldwyn's story. "You're a fine lad, Ranma. If you ever find yourself on an island to the northwest, come look me up." Goldwyn raised his mug in Ranma's direction before quaffing his brew.

Meanwhile, Kasumi was talking to some people as well. "I did not know that slaves could compete in mudpit wrestling. But, wouldn't that be considered combat. My slave is a 'Spared in Combat' non-combatant, and as such can not get into fights."

The young man Kasumi was talking to scratched his chin in thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't think that would be a problem. These fights are not actually real fights. Normal people can not get into them, as they are reserved just for sex-slaves. Also, experience points is not awarded the same way as in real combat. The number of attacks one can do does not play any role in the mudpit fights at all. The wrestling is actually more dependent on strength, skill, and stamina. Also, many who chose to role play as a slave chose the non-combatant status. This village does not have a mud-arena. If you want to look into this some more, the closest town with mudpits is Lesterton to the east. It is found near some swamps on the other side of the dragonridge hills. Remember, your slave needs to have a minimum amount of EP to compete."

"Thank you. I just might look into that." Kasumi shook the guy's hand. "Also, thanks about the local information. Sounds like the ruins to the west should not be too difficult. I also think the Bandit king might be worth the trip after we level up some." Stopping to look around for a moment, Kasumi spied a table opening up. "I better collect my friends so we can sit down to eat. Thanks again."

"The menu may not be big, and the food is plain and simple, but it does taste good. A little overpriced though. I mean, 3 silver pieces and 5 coppers for stew, a goblet of mead, and a turkey leg." Ranma mentioned to Kasumi, before taking a sip from his goblet. "For now, let us not stay too long away from any villages. Later, we can get some camp gear, so we can cook out in the wilds. As long as we keep looting, we can afford to eat."

"Ooh, camping. I can't wait to see what little sister makes for dinner. To think, someone cooking for me, for a change," Kasumi said with humor, while looking at Nabiki.

Nabiki just grumbled under her breath and took another spoonful of stew.

Kasumi just smiled to herself at Nabiki's reaction. "How did your networking go, Ranma-kun?"

"Very well. I met some nice guys and learned that this part of the continent were for those who graduated from being a beginner. It gets tougher to the west, and if we go east enough, we can find a port town from which we can charter a ship. Yourself?"

"I found out some of the local challenges. No one had any idea on how to get Nabiki an account after starting a game. We might have to find the owner of her current account and defeat him. Not sure about that, though. Did you and Luan Ko have fun, Nabiki-chan?"

Nabiki looked for a moment at Luan-Ko, who was holding her bowl of stew in her hands and eating it like a cat. "No one tried to walk off with me. The bartender didn't even look at me twice, and the only person who would talk to me had nothing to say. What do you think?"

Kasumi just smiled obliviously, "Oh good! Glad you had fun," before her facade dropped into an annoying smile. "I also managed to get us a room for the night. If there is nothing else to do, we should get some sleep after dinner."

"It will give us a place from prying ears to figure out where to go next. Luan Ko will want to stretch her legs before bedtime, so we're going for a run about town. We'll meet you up in the room, then?" Kasumi nodded at Ranma. "I also want to see what might be in that well in the middle of the town square. Wells tend to hide treasure or doorways. The drought is bound to have dried up the well, it would be a great opportunity to check and this drought may end. I bet one of the quests releases water from upstream or something." Ranma looked to Kasumi to see what she thought.

Kasumi just smiled at Ranma and said, "OK, but don't go to far if you find a tunnel down there. We can all go together, it is safer and we don't have to worry about getting split up. Otherwise, enjoy your run. Don't get back too late. We do have to figure out what to do next and we need to get an early start tomorrow."

A quiet fire was gently burning in the fireplace. The fire and candles cast warm, dancing lights about the room. Kasumi had removed her armor and robes to reveal her harem suit. Stretching out on the bed, Kasumi looked over to Nabiki, "You don't know how lucky you are. Sex slaves don't often get underwear at all, let alone two outfits. Ranma is spoiling you, little sister. That said, you do your own laundry at the next river we cross... ours too. It's a shame water is so hard to come by here, I could use a bath. *Sigh* We need to find a proper save point too."

Nabiki just sighed, "Somehow, this wasn't quite what I thought an adventure would be like. Pack mule, chef, laundry lady, healer. Combat hasn't been so much fun as just plain terrifying. I thought I would just hang back, watch the fight, and then charge for healing. Not unlike what I do everyday back home. Watch Ranma fight someone and make some money from it. And now, I am stuck here, maybe 'til I die. How is it you look like you are having so much fun, Kasumi?"

"I enjoy this kind of life. Adventures, no responsibilities, and getting to spend time with Ranma. Life can be so boring, but not here. And Ranma is anything but boring..." Kasumi was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"Hey, Kasumi? It's Ranma. Let us in." Kasumi could also hear Luan Ko meowing. Opening the door, Kasumi let the duo in.

"Did you two have fun? Find anything in that well?"

"There was a small chest at the bottom with this compass in it. Problem is, it does not seem to point north. There was also an opening. The compass seemed to point into it. Otherwise, we just had a bit of a jog and stretched out our legs. Luan Ko found some R.O.U.S. To stalk and pounce on. She's so cute when she wants to show me what she caught and killed." Ranma smiled at the thought of Luan Ko squatting in front of him holding an oversized rat in her mouth. "The well was dry, and some village girls mentioned how a bathhouse opened up in the mountains. However, seems some girls who went there disappeared It was all those girls could talk about, if you know what I mean."

"So, our choices is to save some silly girls from an evil bathhouse owner, follow the tunnel in the well, Bandits and their leader up in an abandoned Wizard's tower, ruins to the west, R'aul's dungeon also to the west... I wonder if the two are the same? What else was there, Lesterton to the east, or, finally, we can go back north to find easier pickings for a couple of levels. We have no idea how tough any of the local stuff are, other then being at least level 10 would help. Is that about it?" Kasumi ticked off on her fingers as she mentioned each destination.

"What is in Lesterton?" Ranma asked Kasumi, not having heard of the place before.

"Not too sure, but they do have an arena Nabiki could compete in. Mud wrestling among slaves seems to be common here. Other then bedding her, it will help Nabiki level up faster."

"You want me to wrestle in mud? Are you even my sister or are you Kuno in disguise?" Nabiki was shocked and dismayed to hear that her sister was planning on making her do something so raunchy and tasteless. "And why do you keep on mentioning me sleeping with Ranma?"

Kasumi sighed, "Nabiki, Nabiki... have you given any thought to what you are going to do with yourself? Especially if you manage to log off and get back home? Do you really want to walk around Japan as an elf? You can transform into a human in this game, but I have my doubts if you can manage it. For one thing, you have to actually survive to level 20. Maybe, I am not really sure. More then likely though. However, if we can fix your race, or your class, or anything at all, it will probably require you to be leveled up. Even if you are stuck like this forever, you'll still need to level up. Life tends to be short and helpless when you are only a level one. Face it, you need experience points, and a lot of them. Mud wrestling may help you there, and you know Ranma will help teach you a bit. If the idea bothers you that much, you don't have to do it."

"Would you want to?" Nabiki asked heatedly.

"Nope, and I couldn't if I wanted to. Only sex-slaves can enter. But, if Ranma wants you to, you have no choice in the matter."

"So, our choices are to head west to the ruins or dungeons, northeast to deal with the bandits, the bathhouse, the well, enter Nabiki into some sort of slave-fight, or something else entirely? How about we sleep on it and decide after breakfast?" Ranma asked, feeling exhausted. "Luan Ko will keep first watch, I'll grab the second watch."

"Uh, Ranma?" Nabiki's face start to whitened, "We seem to have more people then beds. Actually, there is just the one queen sized bed."

"Do we smell, little sister? If you don't want to sleep with us, you can always curl in front of the fire with Luan Ko." Kasumi smirked at her embarrassed sister.

"No, no ... uh, that's OK, let's just sleep and tomorrow we can go... No place to tough, OK? I don't mind checking out some training dungeons or something."

Ranma just smirked and looked at Kasumi, "Boring! Especially with such mystery and conspiracies that surround this place. I want to explore this part of the world a bit more. Let's just get some sleep." Ranma started to remove his armor. "Uh, Kasumi, why do you look like a genie?"

"Do you like it, Ranma? When I saw it, I had to get it. I grew up watching 'I Dream of Jeannie' and 'Bewitched'. I always wanted to be a magical girl." Kasumi stretched out again onto the bed. "Tomorrow we can...

Nabiki grumbled and complained quietly under her breath. "How long of a walk is it? Aren't we there yet?" Her new slippers, while comfortable, did nothing to ease the fatigue in her legs. Nabiki had been quite pleased to have been able to put on her new dress, but currently her irritability drove away all thoughts of her clothing. It did not help any that her companions were all cheerful and wide awake this morning. It was also no help that she was trailing behind Ranma, with a leash attached to a collar around her neck, and Ranma casually holding the other end like he was just out for a stroll with a dog.

Kasumi swallowed some food and looked over to Ranma. "Sorry about the well, Ranma-kun. We can try it next time. R'aul's Dungeon is the traditional first stop for players who enter this area, after all." Kasumi then tore a bite out of her salami on a stick.

"No problem, Kasumi," Ranma said between mouthfuls of his turkey-leg. "I am just intrigued by the compass and the tunnel. I am also anxious that the well will fill up when the drought ends. I don't think we can put the well off for too long."

"I was thinking about the drought, Ranma-kun. What if it ends because of something a player does? Perhaps in beating one of the local challenges, we end some sort of diabolic magical plot to stop the rain or the river or something. Maybe it is the bathhouse investigation? They, certainly, have the most to gain from the town during a drought. What do you think Nabiki?" Kasumi slowed down and turned around so that she gave Nabiki some attention.

Nabiki paused to think before looking her sister in the eyes. "I am not sure what to think. But, I would love to go to that bathhouse just to be clean for once. Maybe we can stop by there tonight on our way back to town?"

"And what of the kidnapped women? I would hate to lose you girls." Nabiki was touched by Ranma's concerns. "And I would be bathing separately, so it is not like I could protect you either."

"We could always be bait, Ranma-kun. Luan Ko is marvelous at going unseen. She could keep an eye on me, or me and Nabiki, and bring you to where they take us. You and Luan Ko should have no real problems fighting your way in."

"Well..." Ranma was trying to think why that plan was a bad idea. "What if we can't get your armor and equipment back? You'd have to strip to bathe and there is no guarantee we will find your stuff again after beating them all up. They could sell it off, it could be left behind at the bathhouse where someone else just takes them, or it could end up locked up in a secret room we don't happen to find. I wouldn't want to risk our belongings. Also, what if they torture their prisoners?"

This seemed to quiet Kasumi, who became contemplative. Suddenly, Kasumi blushed. "We could see if we could lock our stuff up at the inn. Or maybe, if there is a bank in town, we could rent out a vault or a locked chest. You do have a good edge with your armor and weapons, wouldn't it be more of a fun challenge if you had to save us naked. And which dungeon would be more appropriate to run around naked in than a bathhouse one?"

Ranma looked sideways at Kasumi while Nabiki just shook her head. It was Nabiki who spoke up first, "So we just walk around the countryside naked trying to find this bathhouse?"

"Why, heavens forbid no. I am sure we could buy some kind of simple robe, yukata, or kimono to walk about in. We would be naked otherwise. I imagine anyone going off to bathe would not wear more then a robe anyways. We would look more the part of innocent bathers. We shouldn't enter together, though. Ranma needs to come in later or go in earlier, so no one suspects that he would notice us missing and would come looking for us." Kasumi paused for a moment. "What do you think they do with the girls they take?"

Ranma just smirked, "You better hope they aren't used for virgin sacrifices."

Kasumi just smirked back, "I always wondered if virgin sacrifices were perhaps in reality recently virgin sacrifices. Seems to be a waste of a perfectly good virgin and evil cult priests probably don't get very many girlfriends to begin with."

"Maybe you and Nabiki can find out with this fool plan of yours." Ranma then turned serious. "No armor, no weapons, and being bait. I don't like this plan. Why can't we just storm in fully armored and beat up people until they talk?"

Nabiki snorted, "Sounds like the kind of plan the old Ranma would prefer too."

Ranma shrugs. "Anyhow, we can figure this out later. For now, what do we know about R'aul?"

"He has been dead for a long time now, but his dungeon is a favorite raiding site for adventurers. The dungeon is full of devious traps and many different monsters have made it their home. Plenty of riches to find, and the final boss says something as he dies that will clue us into another adventure. It is suppose to be easier then the dungeon we found Nabiki in, which I think we should properly finish before we leave the area. Lots of adventurers go to R'aul's and we should bump into a bunch of them while in it. Maybe we can find out more information from them." Kasumi had counted off each point on her fingers, making sure she remembered them all. "It's an easier dungeon, so don't expect any great treasure, but it'll earn us some more money and maybe we might find an item or two worth keeping."

"How do we know where to even find it?" By this point, Nabiki was very tired of walking. "I don't feel like walking all day. Can't we take a break?" Nabiki started to fidget with her collar, putting a finger between collar and neck.

"I told you to get some breakfast, little sister."

"What? A giant drumstick? Salted meat on a stick? Sausages and eggs smothered in gravy? Pigeon pie? They had nothing but fatty meats. Nothing I would consider a proper breakfast. No rice, no miso, not even toast or coffee." Nabiki complained, feeling put out at the lack of coffee in the morning.

"You'll learn to eat all that. Better then starving. Let us rest in the shade over there." Ranma pointed towards a big tree that sat on the crest of a small hillock. Once seated, Ranma nudged Kasumi and pointed at the view overlooking the valley ahead of them. They bent their heads together and conferred in whispers. With a quick hand gesture, Ranma sent Luan Ko climbing up the tree.

"What's wrong?" Nabiki asked, noticing the two of them acting strangely.

"Looks like we may be close to the Dungeons. Rest up, little sister. Soon we will be going in."

Ranma and company did not have to go far before they encountered their first group of adventurers. Entering the dungeons, Ranma had released Nabiki from her leash, and then they had turned to take the hallway to their left. It was soon after that turn when Ranma and company had came upon a group of heroes in the hallways.

"Excuse me folks," Ranma says with a nod to the other heroes. Nabiki was feeling more then a little self conscious. Even though Ranma had given her a nice dress to wear, she felt sure that everyone could tell she was a sex slave. As such, she tried to stay out of sight behind Ranma.

"Greetings travelers," one of the men says, eying Ranma suspiciously. "Were you planning on going into the Rookery too?"

"No, I did not know that there was a rookery here to begin with," Ranma explained, worried about attracting too much trouble when he should be making friends or contacts. "What sort of winged creatures do they keep here? By the way, my name is Ranma and this is Nabiki and Kasumi." Ranma decided to not draw attention to Luan Ko hiding in the shadows.

"I'm Galgaroth, and this is Paula, the ranger is Tetsuro, that's Rat-oni the dwarven monk, The thief over their is Sakura, the paladin over there is Roy G. Biff, he's Jazz, our elven mage, the black mage is Rasputin, and the high elf cleric is Mae. This rookery is for dragon hatchlings. Not too hard if you don't attract all of the baby dragons at once. The real fight are with the keepers. Enslaved monsters that the parent dragons command to protect the children. And, of course, the room's boss. He may be tough but you get a reward for defeating him. Having a larger group helps, and dragon eggshell can be sold for money. If you like, you could join us in our raid. Safety in numbers, after all."

Nabiki wasn't sure if it was the poor lighting or her cursed libido, but some of the toughs in the group were rather sexy looking, in a bad-boy kind of way.

"No thanks," Ranma politely declined. Something about the group or this part of the dungeon just did not feel right to Ranma. "We are new here, and just started to explore this dungeon. Do you have any suggestions on where to start?"

"The south-east portion, down a floor, is easy enough and is where most people start. It's a bit of a maze, the monsters are not too tough, and there are plenty of treasure chests, though they do not have much in them. If you change your mind, just let us know." Galgaroth turned to address his men. "OK guys, these eggs have given us a lot of trouble in the past. Ahhh, does anyone need anything off this guy or can we bypass him?" Their leader seemed hopeful that he could just skip this part of the dungeon.

Tetsuro the ranger responded, "I think Roy needs something from this guy," as he gestured towards the paladin. Nabiki noticed that, oddly enough, the paladin seemed to be staring off into space and not all there. Nabiki gently nudges Ranma and points out the comatose paladin.

"A.F.K." Ranma quietly mouths to her. Nabiki wonders just what he meant by that.

"Uh ... he needs his devout prayer beads, right? Isn't he a paladin?" A small redheaded girl dressed like a thief mentioned.

"Yeah, Sakura, that will help him heal better and have more mana," Tetsuro said, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Galgaroth scowled. "Crap, OK, so here's what we'll do. I'll run in first and gather up all the eggs, so we can kind of beat them all down when they hatch. I'll use my intimidating shout to scatter them so we don't have to fight a whole bunch of them at once. When my shout is done, I'll need Rat-oni to come in and drop his shout too so we can keep them scattered and not fight too many. When his is done, Jazz, of course, will have to run in and do the same thing. Uh, we're going to need Avatar Intervention on our mages. So they can be safe, because we will be bringing them down fast. We will be in trouble if we don't take them down quick. I think this plan will work for us, we should be able to pull it off this time. What do you think Paula? Can you give me a number crunch?"

"Hmmm, give me a sec ..." A scholarly looking woman, her black hair up in a bun and wearing glasses, pulled out some sort of golden abacus from her dark velvet robes and started sliding the beads back and forth. After a moment of nothing but the click clack sound of the ruby and emerald colored beads, she looks up, "I'm coming up with a 35.33 repeating percent chance of success if we stick to the plan."

"Well, that is a lot better then what we usually face-"

Suddenly the Paladin springs to life while wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Alright chums, let's do this! Heeeeeeeeeeere's ROOOOOOOOOOOOY GENNNNNNNNKINSSSSSS!"

"Oh my god! He just ran in," Galgaroth screamed in amazement.

"What should we do? Stay here? Oh geez!" Tetsuro panicked.

Galgaroth started to run in after Roy, "No, stick to the plan. Let's go, let's go! Stick to the plan!"

As Nabiki started to move closer to get a better look into the room the heroes ran into, Ranma's hand came down onto her shoulders holding her back. "They're screwed, come on, let's go," Ranma advises Nabiki. "Coming Kasumi?" As they walk away, a plaintive voice wailed, "It's not my fault!"

Ranma and friends found their way to the south-east section as directed. The hallway ended at a doorway. A giant stone lintel above the tall opening in the wall was carved in snakes and nagas. Hanging from the lintel was a sign that proclaimed, 'You first must be lost before you can find yourself. You must first be challenged before you can succeed. A journey is not the distance traveled but the obstacles passed.'

"I guess this is the place. The sign sounds like a warning for a maze." Ranma glanced at the others to see what they thought.

Kasumi just eagerly smiled, "Lets go kick us some monster patooty!"

"Patooty? Kasumi, I am starting to worry about you," Nabiki said in concern to Kasumi.

Luan Ko just gave a happy little purr and rubbed her face against Ranma's armor.

Ranma nodded his head. "Alright, let's see what this dungeon has to offer us!"

Nabiki tried to shrink further into the shadows cast by the flickering torchlight. Some sort of character had rounded the corner, and upon seeing them, sent a group of giant mutant penguins to attack. Mutant penguins that kept saying, "D00D!"

Kasumi smiled at the sight and squealed, "Prinnies!" Then she jumped into the group of 6 prinnies.

Ranma locked eyes with the Beast Leader. Drawing his sword, Ranma rushed the Beast Leader while looking towards Kasumi. "That Disgaea mod you patched in, did it have some character types too?"

However, Kasumi was too busy fighting to answer Ranma and soon he was busy as well. Kasumi, while fighting admirably, was being overwhelmed. So she leaped back and grab her bow. Soon, arrows were raining down upon the Prinnies. Meanwhile, Ranma engaged the Beast Leader. Letting the leader attack first, Ranma flowed out of the way of the attack before sweeping his sword up and through the leader's arm. Continuing the motion of the sweep, Ranma spun in place into a back kick that launched his foe into a prinny. Making a rushing dash, Ranma thrusted himself into the pack of weakened prinnies. His sword mowed down prinnies where they stood as Kasumi rushed the group from the opposite side. She met Ranma in the middle, surrounded by dead bodies.

Kasumi politely asked, "What was that, Ranma?"

"One moment, Kasumi." Ranma noticed the Beast Leader was getting up again. A quick barrage of chestnut fists put the leader down for good. "I was wondering if these characters came from the mod you added to the game."

"Oh... hmmm. You know, that mod did offer a lot of changes. Not just character classes and reincarnation, but also monsters, item worlds, and so forth." Kasumi paused for a moment, then her face brightened in the light of realizing something big. "You don't think we could enter Nabiki like that?"

"Uh ... would it be safe to try? Maybe later, when we're not in the middle of a dungeon with Nabiki surrounded by lots of monsters." Ranma looked at the bodies Luan Ko was busy looting. "That wasn't so hard. Good for experience points, but kinda easy."

"Don't worry Ranma-kun. It is still early in the dungeon. Maybe this maze will get tougher. Speaking of which, how are we going to find our way around it?"

"I was just going to follow this wall on the right. We'd eventually have to go through most if not all of the twists and turns and find ourselves back at the doorway."

"That's actually intelligent... Ranma, where'd you learn that trick?" Nabiki was genuinely surprised. Ranma never struck her as the type to have good ideas outside of a fight.

Ranma just shrugged. "It was something I picked up discussing battle strategies, once. I think it was while Pops and I were in Okinawa. I got to hang out with a bunch of American Marines while there."

Nabiki was silent, absorbing the new facts about Ranma.

Seeing that Luan Ko was done collecting loot, Ranma turned to continue on down the hallway.

Some time, and many fights, later, Ranma and his gang sat on some treasure chests to rest up. They had just dispatched some green skulls, blue mages, and a couple hoshikage. Many of their fights had also been with goblins and kobolds with a few bugbears, however some Disgaea classes were making an appearance as well.

Ranma looked over to Nabiki and said with a smirk, "Well, you have to admit, this has been better then going to school. Today beats any day at Furinkan, don't you agree?"

Nabiki just snorted. "I get dragged places and used like a bandaid to heal. I don't earn as much experience as you do and I don't get any money or loot. However, I have to carry the extra items you keep picking up."

"Admit it, little sister. Even with all that, you are enjoying yourself." Kasumi gave Nabiki a knowing smile.

"Well ... OK. I actually am enjoying this. Seeing something I normally don't get to see everyday. And I don't feel so frightened, knowing I get ignored during battles anyways. My feet are tired though. There's so much walking and this place is huge. We'll be in here for days. Will we even get to sleep? If so, where?"

Ranma just chuckled. "Naw, we'll do a different part everyday. We'll go back to town to sleep. We'll leave at about dinner time. We should get back in time for a late meal and to catch some sleep. We could buy camping gear, but sleeping in a dungeon has a lot of risks. As long as we can afford it, I rather play it safe and sleep in an inn."

Whatever Kasumi was going to say next was cut off when some gladiators walked by and saw them. Before anyone could blink, Ranma and Luan Ko were up and at arms instantly. Nabiki ducked into a corner to wait the battle out while Kasumi positioned herself in front of Nabiki.

Ranma intercepted a gladiator charging for Kasumi. Kasumi had been keeping back, using her bow and magic to soften the enemies. However, the occasional frustrated gladiator would eye her as easy pickings and attack. For this gladiator, his attack was knocked off course by Ranma's flying jump kick. Tossing a few Möko Takabisha to disperse the gladiators into disarray, Ranma turned to give Kasumi a cheeky wink. Kasumi softly giggled at Ranma's antics.

Luan Ko, meanwhile, leaped onto a gladiator, wrapping her legs around his head. She then buried one of her poisoned daggers into his back. Nabiki couldn't help but notice how sexy Luan Ko's maneuver was, and how it cause her short skirt to ride up, showing off her thighs nicely. Giving her head a hard shake, Nabiki reprimanded herself, 'Bad girl! Stop thinking like that.'

A gladiator tried jumping Ranma, only to have Ranma fall back, plant his foot in the gladiator's gut, and throw the gladiator onto the floor behind him. Kasumi quickly drew her sword and severed the head off of the thrown gladiator. Kasumi then blocked the attacks of some gladiators that tried to take advantage of Ranma being on the ground while Ranma flipped himself back onto his feet. Ranma and Kasumi then found themselves in a sword fight with those gladiators. Luan Ko, after breaking the wrist of a nearby gladiator and throwing him into a wall, threw another poisoned dagger at one of the gladiators surrounding Ranma. Drawing her poisoned ninjato, Luan Ko dashed in to join the sword fight

Ranma, holding his sword in two hands, stood with his sword low and pointing behind him on his right side. His non-sword side advanced forwards. The gladiator took the bait and swung for his unprotected side. Ranma stepped back with his left foot, out of the reach of the gladiator's sword, while slashing his sword upwards. Dismembering the gladiator, Ranma stepped in quickly to thrust his sword through his enemy's rib cage and into the heart. Not having the time to draw his sword out of his fallen opponent, Ranma dodged the next sword blow heading towards his head by stepping to the side. Ranma grabbed the gladiator's wrist with one hand and pinwheeled that arm while grabbing the gladiator's head and yanking down. Ranma directed his attacker's arm towards the opposite shoulder, and the gladiator found himself on his back. Meanwhile, Ranma had stripped the gladiator's sword while tossing him. Ranma reversed his grip on the captured sword and thrust it down into his foe's head. Reaching back, Ranma grabbed his own sword, and Ranma pulled it out of the fallen gladiator while dancing to the side to avoid an attack.

Kasumi, having just finished her attacker, spun to engage the gladiator that Ranma had just dodged. With a vicious stroke of her sword, Kasumi decapitated the foe. Ranma then threw his sword, spear style, into the gladiator sneaking up behind Kasumi. Luan Ko then used her ninjato to dismember that gladiator at the knee caps. Stepping to the side, Luan Ko avoided an attack meant to cleave her head in two. Ranma immediately launched a sidekick into Luan Ko's attacker. Kasumi responded with a front kick of her own to a different gladiator as Luan Ko decapitated the one Ranma had kicked. Kasumi then dodged the charging rush attack of the gladiator she just kicked. Ranma, not bothering to retrieve his sword, dashed in to judo throw the last opponent. Picking the gladiator up off the ground by his face, Ranma got a good grip and broke the gladiator's neck.

Slamming the door shut, and leaning against it, Ranma breathed out in relief. "The fights themselves are not so bad, but the number of them get tiring. Kasumi, remember to buy more healing potions when we get back to town. How're you holding up, Nabs?"

"Tired and my feet hurt. I'm out of SP too, can't heal up anyone anymore. Say, what's this big puddle doing here?" Nabiki had walked further into the dimly lit room and found a softly glowing pool of water in one corner. "Do you think it's poisoned? Maybe a magical trap?"

Ranma, Kasumi, and Luan Ko approached the pool. Kasumi noticed a placard posted on the wall. Reading it out loud, "Welcome adventurers, you have found the healing Pool of Radiance. Congratulations! For solving the maze you get to heal up before finding your way back through it again."

"That's a rip! All of that work and all we get is a puddle of radioactive water." Nabiki couldn't believe that all they got as a reward was a bath.

Ranma started to walk into the pool. When he reached the center, the glow intensified and light erupted from around his feet. Music, lilting and airy, filled the air as strains of flutes, violins, and harps filled the chamber. Only a few seconds later, the effects ended and Ranma was looking much better.

"Hmmm, restored my HP and my SP and I feel refreshed. Come on in girls, the water's fine." Ranma beckoned the others to join him. Kasumi wasted no time wading in while Luan Ko gave an eager leap and splashed in. Nabiki followed at a more sedate pace. Once again the light show and music played. Once those were finished, everyone felt restored and rested. "Well, I guess we better head out. We better go back to South Town. We can work our way deeper into the dungeon tomorrow."

Nabiki stared at the water in longing. "Do you think it would be OK to take a bath here?"

Kasumi sadly shook her head, "I don't think we should risk offending the fairy spirit of this pool by spoiling her water."

Ranma was pretty sure he was near the entrance to the maze. Soon, they can get out of the dungeon and head back to town. That idea appealed to Ranma on the basis that he was hungry and missed lunch. However, fate had another random monster encounter in store for him.

"Ranma, Kasumi... There's some monsters behind us." Nabiki called out in warning. She had heard some sort of scuffling noise from behind and around a corner. Looking over her shoulder she watched as a group of kobolds and redcaps walked into view.

Ranma and Kasumi turned, standing shoulder to shoulder as Nabiki scampered to hide behind them. Luan Ko once again dissolved into some shadows. She also used her claws to climb the wall and perch near the ceiling. The kobolds, armed with staff-slings, immediately fell into position and started to lobby exploding clay pots at the heroes. The redcaps rushed forward in a berserker frenzy, with much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair.

Ranma and company were forced to fall back when fiery explosions erupted all around them. Three of the pots needed to be swatted away by Ranma and Kasumi with their swords, resulting in the pots shattering mid-air near them. Three other pots shattered against a nearby wall. Nabiki jumped away from all of the sulfurous flames, not being as armored as her owner and sister. The redcaps arrived before the second volley of pots could be thrown. The three redcaps near the front threw themselves at Kasumi with a bloodcurdling howl. Kasumi tried to swat them away, but had to fall back in the face of their assault. Ranma turned to help Kasumi fight off the redcaps, but the remaining two bull rushed his legs, tackling him by the kneecaps. That was when the second volley of clay pots exploded around them. However, the third volley never came.

Luan Ko, seeing the strategic necessity in disrupting the monsters' ranged support and aerial bombardment, worked her way along the top of the wall towards the kobolds. With a silent leap, she landed in their midst. Suddenly, the kobolds were using their staff-slings to try to bludgeon Luan Ko, and were too disarrayed to attempt any ranged attacks. With a high jump, and drawing her knees up to her chest, Luan Ko cleared a horizontally swung staff. With a flash and a snick, her poisoned dagger cut through a kobold's Adam's apple. A back kick knocked another kobold away, followed with Luan Ko leaping clear of the pack.

Meanwhile, Ranma regained his footing, picked the redcaps up by the back of their heads, and smashed them face to face. Kasumi had scored a critical hit on a redcap with her sword, and danced out of the reach of the other two. Ranma, seeing that it was now just two redcaps against Kasumi, decided to go help Luan Ko who was still fighting off five of the kobolds.

The kobolds rushed Luan Ko, staffs poised above their heads ready to strike. This presented her with all the opening she needed as she dashed in between two kobolds, burying two of her daggers into their hearts. The other kobolds, in trying to hit her dashing form, only managed to whack each other with their staffs. This was when Ranma got a little payback by strafing the kobolds with a barrage of Möko Takabisha chi balls. In the resulting confusion, Luan Ko and Ranma made quick work of the remaining kobolds.

Kasumi was now facing against just one redcap, having dispatched the other by cutting its face into two. The redcap disappeared in a flurry of motion as Luan Ko pounced upon it like a rabid jungle cat and the two of them went rolling across the floor. When they stopped, Luan Ko stood up revealing that the redcap had a torn throat and a broken neck.

"You can come out, Nabs. Are you OK?"

"A little shaken up, but I am fine Ranma. I did not know that I would have to dodge stray grenades, that was scary."

Nabiki, once again on her leash, walked besides Luan Ko and behind Ranma and her sister. Her haversack was slung over her shoulders, her clothing was grimy, and her face was caked in dust. And everyone stunk. Trudging along besides a skipping Luan Ko, Nabiki mused, 'That girl is always happy and perky. And Ranma and Kasumi seem to be enjoying themselves. *Sigh* That bum was correct. Times are tough.' Needless to say, all Nabiki needed was a nice warm bath.

"The sun has only begun to set and we have made it back to the town." Ranma noted as the group marched pass the old man at the town's edge. "We can dump the booty tomorrow. For now, let us eat and get a room again."

Kasumi stretched to work the kinks out of her back. "I think we had a productive day. Usually, in the games I've played before, you could ignore details like sleep, food, and going to the bathroom. Working on a dungeon is much different when you need to stop for breaks, and when human needs other then healing drives you back to a village." Taking a sniff, Kasumi figured that bathing would be in their future.

"So tomorrow, we go back?" Nabiki groaned at the thought of another long walk to the dungeon followed by walking all over the dungeon. 'At least I get to rest some when the others are fighting.'

While holding the door to the inn open for the girls, Ranma replied to Nabiki, "Yep, unless something else happens that we need to worry about." The four of them walked in and found a table to sit at.

The weather was nice out: the golden rays of the setting sun, the not too warm temperature, and the just right breeze made for a very enjoyable evening. Ranma and company had just finished their dinner, and were waiting to settle up the bill.

Ranma glanced out the window. "Hey, Kasumi. How about we go for a walk and burn off some of that dinner? It looks nice out, and there is not much else to do."

"Sure thing, Ranma-kun. I'd like that."

After paying for the meal, Ranma took hold of Nabiki's leash and lead the group outdoors. "The town square is over in that direction. Shall we see if any of the locals are relaxing there? The evening is too nice to spend cooped up inside."

Passing by the front of the General Store, closed for the night, Kasumi noticed a man with a lute sitting on the porch decking of the store front. "Excuse me, sir? Would you mind playing a song?"

"Certainly," the bard agreed, "I just composed a nice piece detailing King Mithros's defeat of the Thousand Goblin Army in the War of the Head Cheese. Or maybe, you would prefer a classic. Perhaps O'Finnegan's Death of Sir Crwllyad?"

Kasumi responded without much hesitation, "Which one has a good beat to dance to?"

"Bah, figures. Look, I'm a bard. The music is just an accompaniment to my song, a lyrical rhyme telling the great stories of our history. If you want to dance, find yourself a drunk fiddler or some illiterate dance master. Such concerns are beneath me." The bard's face screwed up in distaste for a moment, before he seemed to come to a decision. "If you folks would just sit down on yonder stoop, I can enlighten you with the heroic epic of Lord Johnny the Weasel and his one thousand and one nights of adventure."

An old man, who was passing nearby, walked up to Kasumi. "Excuse me, but if you are looking to dance some, I know how to play a fiddle. It has been ages, but I think I can remember a couple dance songs." With that, the old man pulled a small stringed instrument from a pocket in his cloak. It looked like a violin's fretboard attached to a pipe, or an extremely skinny fiddle. "I was just on my way back from trying to sell this pocket fiddle. Lucky for you, as I don't normally have one on me." Tapping a rhythm with his right foot, the old man launched into a fast, folksy fiddle rift. The traveling bard just sneered at the old man.

Kasumi turned to face Ranma, "May I have this dance, kind sir?"

"Yes, you may, fine lady." Ranma, who didn't really know what kind of dances the locals had, just started moving to the music with Kasumi. They foot stomped, shoulder bopped, and hip swayed as the fiddler kept on sawing on his tiny yet loud instrument. Luan Ko grabbed Nabiki and pulled her into the dancing as well. It was not long before they got some attention; a shopkeeper, closing up for the night, quickly grabbed his cittern and joined the impromptu jam session. Soon after, the girl from the armor and clothing shop was walking by. It did not take her long to decide to dance with Ranma and Kasumi. Nabiki noticed that she wore as little as always, with her low cut, mid-riff baring blouse and low riding mini skirt. Hands in the air, hips swaying, the saucy blonde ground her body against Ranma's back. For reasons Nabiki couldn't name, she felt put out at how close the girl was getting to her Ranma. Soon, more villagers joined in on the dancing, as a tin whistle player and a couple guys with spoons joined in on the music making. The bard just walked away with a disgusted shake of his head.

"Wow, Ranma-kun. Looks like we started a party."

"Yes, I think we did, Kasumi. Having fun, Nabiki?"

Nabiki, who had moved closer to Ranma with Luan Ko, looked over and replied, "Not my kind of music, but it does have a catchy beat. All that is missing is some guy singing nonsensical lyrics while calling out square dance moves."

The redheaded waitress from the inn, who was also dancing close to Ranma, overheard Nabiki talking. "Well, Uncle Tiberius will probably be along shortly. He never passes up the chance to party, and he loves singing."

"Is that him heading up to the other musicians?" Kasumi asked, noticing a tall, middle-aged man cutting through the crowd of dancers.

"Yes, that's uncle alright," The redhead replied.

Cupping his hand around his mouth, Tiberius sang out:

Chase the hens and feed the goats, Bow to the partner you love most. Raise them swords, raise them high, Kiss the goblins before they die.

Swing your girls, swing 'em to and fro. Love 'em and leave 'em before you go. Spin that bonnie lass and promenade, Show her a good time 'fore she gets away.

Open the door and shove her out. Corn in the teapot, pour'd out the spout. Don't lose your lady to another man. Give her what she wants in a one night stand.

Ranma stretched his arms out above his head and yawned as he entered their shared inn room. "Oh man, am I tired. That was fun though."

"Yes, it was. Too bad the well was dry. There was a lot of thirsty people. I think we would of all danced longer if we didn't have to run off to buy some ale to wet our throats." Kasumi frowned cutely.

"Well, without any local water, only the imported ale and mead are left to drink." Ranma then shrugged. "Getting kind of tired of all the alcoholic beverages though. Some milk would make a nice change of pace. Maybe we can find a dairy farm as we walk about tomorrow?"

"Speaking of drinks and water, when can we bathe? After all of that dancing in the warm air and dusty square, I feel all itchy." Nabiki tiredly stumbled into the room. "I'd even be willing to walk to a mountain creek if it meant rinsing off."

Kasumi gave a sad smile to her little sister, "I know what you mean, but there are more random monster encounters at night if you leave a town. It's just not safe to go out and stumble up a mountain in the dark, just to skinny dip."

"Wait now, if we bring a couple torches, maybe we could head out to a small stream. Just need to make sure we don't spoil any drinking supply. I am used to going without luxuries, thanks to pops, but you girls don't have to if we can avoid it. I think the three of us fighters can deal with random bogies." Ranma then thought for a moment. "Hey, Luan Ko, think you can sniff us out some water?"

It was night, and after an evening of dancing, and a night of getting ambushed by goblins, slime blobs, thestrals, and a manticore, the foursome adventurers finally found a small body of water. A trickle of snow melt fed into a small depression in a rock slab, where it pooled up before running off in a small flow lost among the undergrowth.

Nabiki sighed at the sight. "To call this puddle a pond would be generous. And that is not a cascade, it's a drip. And that little trickle is not big enough to be even considered a brook or a creek."

Ranma placed an arm around Nabiki's shoulders. "Cheer up Nabiki, you get to rinse off. This is the most water we will probably be able to find around here. Use some sand to scrub with, since we have no soap. I'll go wait aways a bit, give you three girls some privacy." Ranma then turned and walked away along a rock outcropping. It was Kasumi's turn to sigh as Ranma left, causing Nabiki to look at her sister strangely. Neither Nabiki nor Kasumi missed Luan Ko's cute little pout.

"You hoped Ranma-kun would stay, too, Luan Ko?" Kasumi said to the smaller cat-girl as she put an arm around her.

"Nyao," Luan Ko meowed while nodding her head up and down. Clasping her hands behind her back, Luan Ko turned her cute kitten eyes expression towards Kasumi.

"Don't look at me like that, little one. I didn't send him away." Kasumi then turned towards her sister, Nabiki. "Shall we get out of our clothes and try to rinse off the sweat and the dust?"

"Kasumi? You didn't really want Ranma to bathe with us, did you?"

Kasumi blushed and giggled before responding, "I thought it might be fun; I never skinny dipped before and I think it is usually done in mix company. Also, it is kind of dangerous for Ranma to be by himself at night, though less so for him then for us. And don't act like you'd turn down the chance to have a bath with Ranma-kun. I saw how you perked up when Ranma casually mentioned how good you look as an elf."

Nabiki only mulled the final point for a moment, "I am pretty sure that bathing with some guy has little to do with how cute he finds me." Then Nabiki herself blushed. "However, and I totally blame the game for this, I can't stop thinking of him, sometimes." Nabiki, having less to take off had finished first, and so entered the small pool of water. 'Brrrr!' She thought as her feet entered the water.

"Uh huh, and do you blame the game for how jealous you almost got whenever a cute girl tried to dance with Ranma earlier tonight? You seem to be getting sort of attached." Kasumi pointed out to Nabiki as she finished stripping and kneeled in the small collection of water. "Ooh, cold!" Kasumi exclaimed under her breath as the water touched her skin.

"Hey now, we both know how naive he can be. I'm just looking out for him. As much as it pains me to admit, I can't survive here without him and so, I have to at least make sure no one takes advantage of him." Nabiki huffed defensively. Luan Ko finally joined them in the water, meowing pitifully at the coldness of the water.

"I think we're going to get sick from all this chilled water," Nabiki commented.

"Don't change the subject, sister dear," Kasumi giggled as she wagged an eyebrow suggestively. "I think we were discussing how you want to ravage your master like a good little sex slave." Kasumi then broke down into cute little guffaws at the expression on Nabiki's face.

Luan Ko took the opportunity to crouch behind Nabiki and started to rub her back vigorously with water, rinsing off the dust. Soon, Luan Ko dragged her tongue across Nabiki's skin, cleaning her back as a mother cat would clean its kittens.

"Hey!" Nabiki protested. "Not you too, come on, I don't swing that way... *moan*... Hey, no fair using my penalties against me."

Kasumi giggled some more at Nabiki's outraged expression, and laughed harder at her indignant expression when the moan escaped her lips. "Don't the two of you make a cute couple," Kasumi teased Nabiki, "Maybe it's not the guy half of Ranma that you want, huh lil sis?"

"Stop that, both of you! What is this, pick on the helpless slave night?" Nabiki crossed her arms over her chest, got up, left the pool, and turned her back to her sister and Luan Ko before sitting down again.

"Aww, sorry lil sis," Kasumi apologized not too sincerely. "Come on, join us in the water, again."

Nabiki sighed in defeat as she stood up and turned around to look at her sister. Just then, some moonlight broke through the clouds and fell on Nabiki. Kasumi's breath caught in her throat at the lovely artistry of the light and shadows that played upon Nabiki's casual pose.

"Nabiki, don't move!" Kasumi gasped at her sister.

"What is it? A monster?" Nabiki asked anxiously.

Kasumi seemed to ignore her sister as she tipped her head sideways. "Turn your right knee in just a little, good. Look up to the moon, perfect."

"Huh? What's going on?" Nabiki was confused by her older sisters strange behavior.

"Just don't move, no matter what. I'm going to go get Ranma," Kasumi said in soothing tones to Nabiki. Suddenly, Kasumi shouted out, "RANMA! Help!"

Suddenly, the underbrush swayed in an unnatural breeze as Ranma dashed into the clearing with his sword drawn. He quickly scanned the area, "Kasumi, what's the matter? Did you see something?"

Kasumi just smiled serenely and replied in an relaxed manner, "Come stand over here and look at Nabiki, quick before the clouds cut off the moonlight."

Ranma complied to the request, and Nabiki blushed a little at having Ranma see her naked.

"Er, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. What am I suppose to notice?" Ranma asked Kasumi.

"Just how lovely the light and that pose looks. I wish I had a camera, it's so artsy and tasteful. *Sigh* The light, Nabiki's wet skin, her wet hair, and her elven features. I wish I knew how to draw."

"Ah... oh! I thought you were being attacked the way you screamed. I was worried for you," Ranma admonished Kasumi as he turned his head to look at her. "But yeah, Nabiki posed nice in the moonlight, but I always thought she was a natural model. She always had her cute moments."

Nabiki blushed at the light praise from Ranma.

Kasumi smirked mischievously. "As long as you are here, Ranma-kun, would you like to join us?"

Luan Ko meowed a happy agreement with Kasumi.

Ranma chuckled nervously, "Heh heh heh, no thanks, I'll just wait for you girls to finish up first." Ranma then blushed and turned away when Luan Ko rubbed by his legs, purring and crawling cat like. Frustrated, the cat-girl splashed Ranma with some water.

A strange look crossed Nabiki's face for a moment, before she found her toes interesting. Blushing from head to toe, she shyly told Ranma, "Ran... M— Master, if — if you like, I could wash your back for you."

"Naw, it's OK Nabiki. Thanks for asking. Don't you girls take to long. Not only do we have to get up tomorrow, but I don't want anyone catching a chill." Ranma then strode away, not looking at anyone and still blushing.

"What?" Nabiki asked defensively as she sat back down in the water. "I was just trying to do my job. You keep saying how I have to be the role I am given." Nabiki couldn't meet anyone's eyes and kept her gaze lowered as she continued to blush. Kasumi said nothing, though a knowing smile did cross her lips. Luan Ko just pouted again, watching where Ranma disappeared into the undergrowth.

Once Ranma had a chance to rinse himself off, while the girls waited nearby, they all began to head back to the village.

'It is nice to be able to take a bath in cold water and not turn into a girl,' Ranma thought to himself.

"Thank you, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said to Ranma while giving him a peck to his cheek.

"Yes, Saotome, thanks." Nabiki warmly stated.

"Come on, let's go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we fight the end boss of the dungeon. We'll need our rest for that," Ranma advised. "Luan Ko is running blocker, she's going to divert any monsters away from out path. This way, we can get back without much hassle or getting all sweaty again."

True to his words, the trio made it back to the inn without encountering any dangerous monsters. Luan Ko arrived at their room not long afterwards. Kasumi and Nabiki stripped while Luan Ko curled up by the fireplace. Ranma placed a chair against the door and sat in it to fall asleep. Anyone trying to force their way in would awaken him.

Nabiki blushed as she looked over at Ranma. "The bed would be more comfortable, are you sure you want to sleep in that chair?"

"Oh ... I'm fine. The bed is a bit too small for all three of us, anyways. You and Kasumi get some sleep; tomorrow will be a big day."

Nabiki frowned for a moment. "Would you like a neck rub? I could sit up with you, keep you company."

Ranma puzzled for a moment, wondering why Nabiki was acting odd. "No thank you, Nabiki. I appreciate you taking your job seriously, but really, I'm fine. Go get some sleep, you'll need it." The last part was said a bit tenderly as Ranma smiled. Nabiki smiled a little in return as she gave a slow nod before turning in.

With that, Nabiki and Kasumi settled into bed. With a sigh, Nabiki curled up under the blankets while Kasumi slipped a long knife under her pillow.

"Good night Ranma-kun, Luan Ko, little sister," Kasumi said with a yawn.

"Good night Kasumi, everyone," Nabiki replied sleepily.

"Mrowww," Luan Ko answered while trying to stifle a yawn.

"G'night Kasumi, Nabiki, Luan Ko." Ranma adjusted himself to get more comfortable in his chair before nodding off.

The sun fell gently through the window as Ranma blinked his eyes open. Luan Ko was already stretching herself out, on all fours. Her shoulders and head reaching up and back as her unbound breasts wobbled beneath the shirt she wore to sleep in. Ranma noticed Kasumi was starting to stir, but Nabiki, as every morning, seemed to still be dead to the world. Ranma watched the two sisters for a moment. Kasumi's eyes opened, scanned the room, and met his. She gave him a cute smile which Ranma returned. Ranma stretched out, got up, moved his chair from the door, and opened the door to head to the inn's outhouse. On his way out, he noticed Luan Ko was just sitting by the window, staring at the motes of dust floating about in the sunbeam.

When he returned to the room, Ranma noticed both Kasumi and Nabiki were awake and out of bed. Ranma stretched out again, then began to get his stuff so he could dress.

Nabiki, who never had much to put on and was already dressed, hurried over to give Ranma a hand. "Would you like some help, Ranma?" Nabiki blushed and bit her bottom lip as she looked down; her right foot was behind her left ankle trying to grind her toe into the floor.

Ranma didn't seem to notice as he start to put on his armor. "No thanks, I got it. But, thank you for offering; I appreciate it."

Nabiki paused for a moment to work up some courage. Hesitantly, she tried a different approach. "If you like ... you had a late night, last night, and you slept in a chair. You could take a day off, relax in bed. ...I could stay with you, help you relax..." Nabiki trailed off, still blushing furiously.

"No, that's fine. I'm anxious to get this dungeon done and over with."

Ranma inhaled deeply as the waitress placed a dish of eggs, hash, and hagis in front of him. "Smells wonderful. My compliments to the chef."

Nabiki blushed while looking down at her plate, playing with her food.

"Ranma-darling," Kasumi sing-songed before dropping her voice into a conspiratorial whisper, "You seemed awfully shy last night and this morning. Don't you find little sister attractive?"

"Huh – what? What does that have to do with anything, Kasumi?"

"Kasumi!" Nabiki hissed out in a low whisper, embarrassed that they were discussing this in a crowded inn.

"Ranma, how can little sister survive with out earning any experience points?"

"Aww, come on 'Sumi-chan. You know I ain't no pervert," Ranma whined.

Kasumi just smiled sadly and let the matter drop for the time being. Once breakfast was quickly done with, the quartet got up to leave. Not far from the Inn, they came across an adventurer wearing torn clothing and rags. He was sitting in the dusty street, crying desperately.

"Oh my! Are you all right, sir?" Kasumi asked the wretched man.

"No! Why would you even think I was?" He mournfully replied.

"What is wrong, then?" Kasumi tried again to find out what was bothering the man.

Ranma also decided to join the conversation. "Did some monster steal the love of your life? A magical prince kidnap your fiancée? Turns out your arranged marriage is to a monkey or chimp?" Ranma got some odd looks from nearby townsfolk for his last question.

"No, none of those," the man said with a hiccup. "It's just ... I don't know where I am."

"Oh, you are in South Town, I think," Kasumi replied in a helpful tone.

"No, no. I meant I don't know what game I am in. I bought a computer from a cart pushed by a man in some kind of purple dress or mu'u mu'u. When I got home, I saw the computer already had a game installed. So I clicked on it. I thought it was the Star Wars game Trials of Obi-Wan, but it turns out it was Trails of Robeast-Swan. I woke up in some desert and almost got ran over by all these giant robotic lions. And a giant monster nearly stepped on me. And then, I ran into this green skinned, warty witch named Haggar, and she cursed me, sending me to a far away dimension, which is how I got here. And I don't know how to get home!" The man resumed bawling.

"Here, get some warm food. Everything will be better with some warm food." Kasumi dropped some coins into his lap. The quartet looked at each other for a moment before Ranma shrugged and continued walking. As the four put some distance between them and the miserable wretch, Kasumi turned to Ranma and asked, "What do you think?"

"He's screwed" was his simple reply.

Nabiki looked glum. "Kind of like how we are?"

Ranma felt like a heel, he hadn't thought about how Nabiki would react when he commented. He didn't think at all about the comment before voicing it, being the brutally and bluntly honest type. But it made sense, in hindsight, as her situation wasn't that much different from that wretched and world lost man. Ranma looked over to Kasumi for help in reassuring Nabiki.

"No, not like we are," Ranma mentioned, lost as to why.

"Ranma-kun is right, little sister. You have us, and that will make the difference."

Ranma smiled at Kasumi's statement, then smiled confidently at Nabiki. "Kasumi is right, Nabiki. I'll get you out of here, like I said I would. And unlike that man, you entered through the character generation process. You were not cursed to drop in by some evil witch."

"How do you know I wasn't cursed by some kind of malevolent or mischievous spell? In fact, do you even know how to get out? All the time we have been here so far, we spent exploring that dungeon. Where are we going? What leads do we have? Who do we ask?" Nabiki's voice started to become hysterical. Ranma thought she might be trying to hold back tears, as well.

Kasumi put her arm around her younger sister. "Relax, it'll all work out. We just have to explore a bit. I am sure that an exit must exist near the end, for those who manage to make it that far, as a reward for the effort. We need to play the game by its rules, though. We just can't rush off without earning level ups, or we'll never survive. I am sure, somewhere, is the information we need. How big can this world be?"

A chill of doom ran down Ranma's spine, boding an ill omen. 'I hope that wasn't a famous last words.'

Nabiki smiled, cheering up a bit. Luan Ko prancing around like a playful kitten may have helped. "Your right, of course. There must be something for those who win, otherwise why even play to begin with." Ranma wisely stayed silent on how gamers would play to play the game, not because of what they would get out of the game.

Ranma playfully slapped Nabiki's arm. "That's the spirit. You stick with me, and we'll go places. We may even go home." His smirk told everyone that he was being purposefully tongue in cheek.

Nabiki cheered up a bit more. She couldn't help but notice how happy Kasumi was and how relaxed Ranma has been. 'I have rarely seen Kasumi smile so brightly before. And whatever she did to Ranma's stat things, it seems to have been for the better. Away from Nerima, he seems to be enjoying life more. They are only here because of a mistake I made. I can't let them throw away their lives for me. I'll have to do what I can to win; so we can go home again. I only hope they never have to choose between me and going home.' Trying to stifle a yawn, Nabiki thought about how far away the dungeon laid. 'I rather sleep in, today.' Her mood became soured from her lack of sleep.

Ranma stretched to work some kinks out of his muscles. They were only halfway to the dungeon and just dispatched a small party of goblins. Just to keep things interesting, Ranma conducted his fight with his left arm behind his back the entire time.

"Done showing off, Saotome?" Nabiki was still sitting wedged up in a tree where Ranma had placed her when he heard the Goblins approach. "If so, I'd like to get down now, please." Nabiki scowled, her mood fouled by the long walk to the dungeon and and the discomfort of being stuck in a tree.

Ranma leaped up onto a nearby branch. "Sorry, Nabby-chan. Let's get you down from there."

"Nabby-chan?" Nabiki exclaimed in unamused contempt.

Ranma cluelessly blinked for a moment. "Would you prefer Nabby-kun, instead?" His smirk just infuriated Nabiki further, who chose to grumble to herself as Ranma jumped down while carrying her.

Kasumi, meanwhile, was sucking on one of her fingers. Looking at it, she held it out to Nabiki. "Medic!" Kasumi mock screamed with poorly concealed amusement.

Nabiki rolled her eyes, in response, and did a minor healing spell.

Kasumi pouted. "You're not going to kiss it better?"

Nabiki sighed.

"Luan Ko has a boo boo on her butt that needs kissing," Ranma joked before catching Kasumi's eye. Both of them shared a laugh while Nabiki hung her head.

"Are you OK, little sister?"

Nabiki grumbled under her breath some more. Then, with a sigh, she spoke up, "How can the two of you be so chipper? We had a late night of dancing and hiking up a mountain, and this backwater place hasn't even stumbled upon the miracle of coffee yet."

Ranma's smirk softened into a concerned smile. "How about we rest for a bit, then?"

The group got comfortable and rested. Luan Ko curled up on a sunny spot while the others rested in the shade. Nabiki laid flat on the ground with Ranma sitting cross legged by her head. Kasumi, meanwhile, rested against a tree trunk nearby, braiding some flowers into a crown.

"Pleasant day out," Kasumi mentioned conversationally. Ranma grunted in response.

After a few seconds of silence, Kasumi tried again. "Think we'll get to the final boss today? I'd like to move on."

"Yeah, sure," Ranma absently replied. "Getting tired of the game already, 'Sumi?"

Kasumi chortled before choking down her giggles. "Hardly. I just want to see more of the world. Why be tied to one place here, when it is so easy to just pick up and leave."

"Well ... We still have to figure out where to go to get 'Biki fixed. I don't think we'll find anything here. Can't go home until then." Ranma's expression turns wistful.

Kasumi noticed the change come over Ranma. "A yen for your thought, Ranma-kun."

Ranma grunted before replying. "Just wondering what the uncute tomboy is up to. Probably getting herself kidnapped or something without me around to keep her out of trouble."

"Worried about little sister?" Kasumi smirked. "Or do you just miss her?"

"Me, miss that violent gorilla? Whatever." However, Ranma didn't have the usual heat and vigor in his answer that he normally would. It seemed like his heart wasn't into it.

"Of course, Ranma. How silly of me." Kasumi didn't sound convinced.

Silence fell on the group again as Ranma stared off into the distance and Kasumi worked on braiding a crown.

"It's alright if you miss her, you know. We won't think you're less of a man for having soft feelings." Kasumi tried to reassure Ranma, suspecting that he needed to talk.

"Well, I don't miss her." Ranma denied once more.

"I'm sure she'd miss you. Your other friends too. No reason why you can't make some new friends here. Maybe you'll even find yourself betrothed to yet another girl, if you look hard enough." Kasumi giggled lightly at the thought.

"No thanks," Ranma grumbled, "I have more then enough already. And you know how Akane would not like it if I came home with yet another fiancée. Like I asked to be chased by girls who don't take no for an answer. Not that Akane ever tried to see it from my point of view."

"What point of view is that?"

"Er, nothing. Though, she acts like I can't have friends who are girls just because I am in an engagement I didn't even ask for."

"Well, obviously you shouldn't be better friends with someone not your fiancée," Nabiki stated.

"Yeah..." Ranma trailed off wistfully. "I wonder what she'd think of this place?" Ranma plucked a blade of grass and started to play with it. Knotting, tying, and untying it.

Kasumi pressed on. "Is that why you won't let us get close? Thinking of Akane?"

"It wouldn't be right, would it, to cheat on my fiancée with her sisters?" Ranma replied defensively.

Kasumi tsked. "It's not like any of this is real. It is only a game, after all."

"Feels real enough to me. And anyways, Ranma Saotome doesn't give up, not when he says he'll do something."

"Referring to yourself in the third person, Ranma? Sure sign of insanity if you ask me," Kasumi teased Ranma. "And what do you mean by giving up?"

"I said I'd get Nabiki out of here and that we go home. All of this is only temporary, soon we'll be back where we belong. Everything will go back to being the same."

Nabiki stirred to look at Ranma. Kasumi stopped braiding the flowers as a pensive frown settled on her features. Kasumi thought she might have it worked out. "You're afraid accepting Nabiki as a sex slave means you're giving up? Because you think the only way you'd cheat on Akane is if you were stuck here with no hope of returning? Is that what you're trying to say, Ranma?"

Fidgeting, Ranma looked down, his fingers playing with the grass. "Yeah, mostly. And if I give up, then what does 'Biki have to look forward to? She'd have no hope then, and I think she's too good for a life as someone's toy." Ranma sighed, growing silent again.

Nabiki patted Ranma's knee. "It's OK, Ranma. It might not even be possible to save me. You shouldn't have to give up on your life just for me."

Ranma gave Nabiki a reassuring look. "Nabs, I make it a point to do at least one impossible thing a day, maybe getting you out of here will be one of those. And I promise you, you won't be stuck in here alone. You don't think I'd actually abandon you here, cursed to be someone's sex slave? I'm going to get you out. I'm going to get all of use out of here. Then we can go back to the way it was, well as much as we can. And I'll once again be 'Kane's problem, not yours."

Nabiki smiled sadly up at Ranma. "You're not a problem, Ranma. And what if you're still my master when we get back? Nothing is going to be the same again, is it? Maybe nothing will ever be the same again, even if we do get back. How do we even fix any of this or get out?"

"Find a mod, I imagine. They would have a godlike control over the game." Kasumi then shrugged. "Who knows, you might have to log-off before they can edit your character. Or, your file is on the laptop, and we'd need an editor to change it. It is not like we had much time to look over the game, Ranma needed to get to you before someone else did." Kasumi then got up and sat next to Ranma, putting her arm around him. "Nabiki's right. You're not a problem. I like having you around, and I like being here with you. Everything will turn out alright in the end, you'll see." With that, she planted a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Ranma sighed and stayed silent.

"Why don't you get some sleep, little sister. We can wait an hour or so before we move on." Kasumi returned to finishing her braiding, sitting quietly next to Ranma.

'Just great!' Nabiki thought. She was busy trying to avoid ceramic grenades. There were only in the dungeon for five minutes when a group of kobolds and goblins surprised them. And while no one was actively targeting her, she was still susceptible to collateral damage.

Ranma gave Luan Ko a great heave, throwing her behind the kobold slingers. Kasumi dispatched a goblin with a vicious kick that shattered his nose bone and impaled it through his brain, only to fall to a goblin dogpile. Seeing this, Ranma jumped over a couple goblins attacking him and began to pull the goblins off of Kasumi. A goblin bit into his ankle as another tackled him, but he shook them both off.

Meanwhile, Luan Ko was busy with the kobolds who were using their staff-slings as quarterstaffs. She managed to kill two of them, but was currently on the defensive. Kasumi was having success knocking the goblins off of her as Ranma helped to remove them. He didn't use his sword, for fear of harming Kasumi, but his swift punches and kicks made short work of the goblins. Helping Kasumi to her feet, they stood back to back in a circle of goblins. Luan Ko tagged another kobold with a poisoned dart to its throat. The kobold dropped, grasping at his neck while gasping and gurgling.

Kasumi beheaded a goblin with a savage chop of her sword. Ranma dismembered another goblin by yanking roughly on its arm while he punched at the shoulder. The goblin screamed in pain as his arm was torn off. Batting aside another goblin with the torn limb, Ranma fired off a Möko Takabisha at the kobolds as a couple were preparing to launch more projectiles. The group of kobolds broke up, giving Luan Ko an advantage. She dropped another two before they could regroup, reducing the number to a more manageable level should they storm her again.

Ranma and Kasumi dodged an incoming clay grenade, as one of the kobolds was able to retaliate against Ranma's preemptive strike. Ranma and Kasumi were able to jump over the blast and the goblins, but the goblins took damage from the explosion and clay fragments. From that point, the battle was all downhill for the monsters.

Hearing grunts and goblins gibbering, Ranma slowly peeked around the corner. He saw a small band of goblins wagering while rolling some knuckle bones. They were loud and riotous, and Ranma doubted they were aware of their surroundings. Sliding back along the wall, Ranma motioned for Kasumi to take a peek.

"What do you think? We should be able to defeat them before they know what hit them," Ranma whispered to her.

Kasumi nodded as she unslung her bow. "Yeah, they should pose no problem."

What followed was the quickest goblin beat down that Nabiki had ever witnessed.

The group was working their way through the dungeon and were almost at their destination. Luan Ko was once again clinging to the shadows and acting as point while Ranma ran anchor, in case they were attacked from behind. The flickering torches spaced infrequently along the wall and Kasumi's own firebrand cast a meek illumination of the corridor; the shadows clung fiercely to the hallway and the low visibility effectively isolated the adventurers. It was only with a mild surprise that Nabiki noticed Luan Ko's back suddenly emerged from the darkness. She had stopped advancing, falling into a fighting stance, and was busy sniffing the air. Her hand gestured for silence as well as signaling a warning that something or things were nearby. Ranma quietly made his way through the stopped group to stand by Luan Ko. Kasumi held her torch high and out, attempting to light the passageway ahead of them. However, its feeble light did little to rend the darkness.

Kasumi gave Ranma a look, with her right eyebrow raised, that was requesting his permission or agreement. Ranma nodded to Kasumi the go ahead. Kasumi gave Nabiki the torch to hold aloft. Muttering under her breath, Kasumi made arcane hand gestures before raising both hands and shouting, "Nova Flash!" The hallway erupted in a brilliant glare of light, as a small ball of illumination was born a short distance down the corridor, revealing two well armored orcs each with a pack of five wolves on leashes. The monsters howled in pain from the unexpected light.

"Shit!" Ranma swore. "Nabiki, get out of here. Fall back!" Ranma's order came in the nick of time as the orcs dropped the chains in their hands, releasing the collared hunting pack to swiftly run at the humans. The large wolves, enthusiastic with blood lust, barked, brayed, and yipped as they rushed at the group. Luan Ko had Nabiki's leash, encouraging her to run faster. Ranma and Kasumi lagged behind to protect the others. Ranma stopped to turn and fire a Möko Takabisha at the encroaching wolves. Many stumbled but got back up again. Kasumi fired arrows at the wolves, but they kept running.

"Aim for the orcs, before we get dogpiled," Ranma ordered.

Kasumi nodded once and aimed again, burying a shaft through the slit in a helm's visor and deep into an orc's eye. He clutched at his face, grunting in pain, before stumbling and falling forward. The other orc ran on, following the guard wolves. Kasumi tried to aim again, but this orc was smarter then the average orc, and zig zagged slightly to throw off her aim. Kasumi got one shot off, flying wide of the dodging orc, before the wolves reached her. They jumped her, jaws snapping and drooling saliva, bringing her down.

Ranma was already harried by wolves who had clamped down hard on his arms and legs with their jaws. The wolves hadn't brought Ranma down yet, but were giving him a good fight. Swinging his arms together mightily, he bashed two of the wolves into each other before shaking them off. Ranma punched another wolf out of midair, that had been leaping for his throat. He blocked yet another wolf by shoving his forearm into its mouth. Grabbing the wolf's neck with his free hand and applying pressure while twisting his arm, Ranma snapped its neck, killing it instantly. Bringing a foot up, he stomped hard onto the neck of another wolf, crushing it.

Kasumi was wrestling with wolves on the floor, unable to draw her sword. "Ranma-kun!" She screamed, panic starting to set in. "I forget, did we transmigrate your Hiryū Shōten Ha?"

Ranma grunted as he stumbled backwards. "In this confined space? Are you nuts?"

Kasumi noticed that the wolf trying to get at her face, the one she was struggling with, suddenly sported three ninja stars. The wolf seemed to be growing weaker too. Catching her breath, for a moment, she had time to ask, "How about a Dark Sky Crush? Or the Over Drive?"

Ranma heard growling and yipping behind him. Knowing that some wolves got past, he looked back worriedly to see if Nabiki was alright. He saw Luan Ko clinging desperately to the wall, high up, where the jumping wolves couldn't reach. Nabiki was between her arms, pressed tightly to the wall. Every few seconds, The nekomata seemed to slip imperceptibly lower. Ranma's distraction cost him as the orc tackled him to the floor. Batting away the muzzle of a wolf, he responded, "I'm kinda saving that for the boss." Ranma caught the descending fist of the orc, knocking it aside to punch the floor. Ranma then kneed the orc in his groin as he headbutted the brute. However, the orc's helm absorbed the head blow.

"Ranma!" Kasumi shouted in exasperation from under a pile of wolves. She managed to kick some off, or knock a few away but more quickly replaced them before she could get up.

Grabbing the orc in a choke hold, Ranma planted a foot in its gut and flipped it off over his head. "OK, OK," Ranma agreed. Activating his Over Drive, Ranma threw the wolves off of him with a burst of new strength and speed. Pulling his sword, he quickly beheaded the orc as it was trying to get up. Next, he yanked Kasumi up from out under the wolves and jumped away to make some distance. A Möko Takabisha scattered the wolves hounding Luan Ko and Nabiki. Shouting, "Dark Sky Crush," he finally finished off the wolves as he launched his biggest and most draining magical attack.

Ranma blew some air out as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "That was some fight, reminds me of the time that pops was training me in endurance. How's everybody?"

"I'm fine," Kasumi mentioned after looking over herself. "Nothing I can't heal up."

Nabiki, still looking a little shaken, just nodded.

"Nyaow, pur-r-r-r-r," Luan Ko voiced as she shrugged.

"Alright, good. I still have enough SP to use health draining specials, but do we have any SP potions?" Ranma asked Nabiki.

Ranma led the others up to a large set of tall doors. They seemed to be made from black iron and carved with grotesque, naked figures and demons. A feeling of cold seeped through the seams in the doorway. Nabiki didn't notice she began to rub her arms, nor did she notice that she shrunk in towards Ranma.

"Looks like the big boss is behind those doors," Ranma mentioned.

"Yes, Ranma-kun. Maybe we should make sure we're as healed and rested as we can be before going in. I brought some potions." Kasumi reached towards the bag Nabiki carried all the time.

"Sounds like a good idea. Need anything Luan Ko?" Ranma motioned for the cat-girl ninja to approach.

Soon, the group was as ready as they could be. Ranma heaved against the doors, which opened with a blast of cold and a loud screech of rusty hinges and heavy wood being dragged along stone.

"If there was any bad guys waiting for us, they'll know we're here, now," Nabiki griped.

Ranma looked back sheepishly and blushed as he said, "Sorry 'bout that. It kind of sounded like the wail of lost and tormented souls, though. I think the noise is just to unnerve us as well as alert any guards.

Cautiously stepping over the threshold, the group entered the final part of the dungeon. A corridor lead to their right a short distance before ending at a stairway that spiraled up to the left. Two tall minotaurs stood guard by the first step, each carrying a hefty halberd and wearing half plate armor. It was obvious that the guards were well aware of their presence.

Ranma looked at Kasumi. Kasumi looked at Ranma. They both shrugged and looked back to the minotaurs. Brandishing their swords, they charged forward as Nabiki went to sit out the battle in the corner.

'Brr,' Nabiki thought as she rubbed her arms, 'cold stone floor.'

One minotaur had tried to cleave Ranma in twain with a strong downward swing of his poleaxe while the other minotaur swung his horizontally like a baseball bat. Ranma sidestepped the former before jumping over the latter as Kasumi ducked under the halberd.

Ranma retaliated, while still mid-air, by slicing down on the first minotaur's head, but the guard stepped back. Meanwhile, Kasumi attempted to thrust her sword into the unprotected joint in the armor under the armpit, but the second minotaur defended himself by swinging the butt of his polearm down and up, parrying her blade.

The minotaur that Kasumi was fighting took advantage of her in close distance by headbutting her. Kasumi was nearly gored by the bovine horns on his head. Meanwhile, Ranma's minotaur held his halberd out in front of him horizontally and shoved it towards Ranma, attempting to clothesline him.

Luan Ko silently landed behind the minotaurs, and immediately took advantage of her flanking maneuver. She chopped into the unprotected back of the knee of the minotaur that Kasumi was facing. It roared in pain as it dropped to one knee, using his halberd for support, but it was still dangerous. Twisting around to face his attacker, the minotaur swung his polearm with all his might at Luan Ko, who had simply leaped upwards and back to land higher up on the stairs. Kasumi, getting up from where she landed after receiving the headbutt, used her sword to slice into the guard's neck as much as she could. Her sword only cleaved into the neck by less then an inch as strong sinews and muscles resisted her attack. The minotaur roared in pain and turned to face Kasumi once again. Blood bled profusely from it's neck wound. Angry eyes flashed from under a heavy brow as a berserker rage overtook the guard's mind. The guard lunged forward in an attempt to skewer Kasumi on his halberd, but Kasumi nimbly sidestepped him. Luan Ko immediately pounced upon his back and brought a dagger around to stab him right in his eye, burying the dagger up to its hilt. A warm, viscous fluid sprayed onto Luan Ko's hand as the guard bellowed once more in pain and rage. Luan Ko held on tighter as she twisted the dagger.

Meanwhile, Ranma managed to snap the staff of the halberd being held by the guard he was facing. The minotaur responded by lunging forward, attempting to capture Ranma in a back breaking bear hug. Ranma ducked under the charge and rolled to the side. He retaliated with a Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken targeting his assailant's left kidney. The guard stumbled before lashing out with a backhanded swing with his left arm which Ranma stepped back away from. Lowing angrily, as he held his side with his other hand, the minotaur fixed his beady eyes as he stamped the floor with his right foot. Ranma realized the guard wasn't just bending over in pain, but preparing to bullrush him. The minotaur charged forward suddenly, attempting to gore Ranma upon his horns.

By backing into a wall hard and grappling with his hands, the minotaur was successful in dislodging Luan Ko, pulling her over his shoulders and throwing her to the ground. Luan Ko rolled out of the way of his stamping feet. Kasumi took advantage of the guard's distraction, and blindside, and thrust her sword into his gut. Roaring in pain from being run through, the minotaur punched Kasumi in the face, causing her to stumble backwards. While the poison from Luan Ko's dagger and the blood lost was slowing him down and making him weaker, the Minotaur was still formidable for the time being. However, focused as he was on Kasumi, he never noticed Luan Ko sneak up behind him and bury a spike into his upper spine, severing his vertebrae and spinal cord. With a wet, bloody gurgle, he fell over.

Ranma grabbed both horns of the onrushing bull headed man, and used both the bulls attempt to throw him off and his own leg power to vault up over the minotaur while still maintaining his hold. Letting go of one horn so he could twist about, Ranma faced forward and returned his grasp with a cross armed grip. His legs wrapped around the guard's torso and Ranma mounted the bullish warrior. The minotaur jumped, bucked, twisted and did everything it could to throw Ranma off. However, Ranma hanged on, applying more and more pressure with his legs. Ranma changed the grip of one his hands to wrap instead around the guard's meaty neck. He then shifted his other hold so he could grab his own arm and apply a choke hold. Between his arms and legs, the minotaur was beginning to have difficulties breathing. Panicking, the guard tried to dislodge Ranma by backing into a wall, but Ranma held on tighter and tighter each time. Soon, the minotaur fell face forward, unconscious from lack of air.

Dusting his hands off as he got up, Ranma said, "Well, wasn't that exciting? Are you OK, Kasumi?"

"I'll be fine, just sore. What about you Luan Ko?"

Luan Ko meowed quickly and nodded her head to show she was fine. Nabiki joined the group by the base of the stairs. "Wow, those guys seemed even tougher then the others we met so far."

"Yeah," Ranma replied distractedly as he brushed the dust off of his armor, "we're getting close to the end. The monsters near the boss tend to give better fights. They're like the elite guards, in a way." Once he was done fixing himself up, Ranma motioned for the others to follow. "Come on, looks like we go up."

After a series of regular fights spaced out along the spiral staircase, the group finally arrived at a door at the top of the tower. The stairs had swept upwards around the outer wall of the tower and along it's seemingly interminable length more minotaurs and other tough guards were encountered. The fights were made less easy by the insecure footing that the stairs offered. The width of the stairway allowed swords to be comfortably used by two abreast, which was good for the group but also good for the defenders. By the time Ranma had reached the top, they were out of healing potions and Nabiki was too tired to heal much more.

Ranma addressed his companions. "Well, this must be it. Ready?"

Kasumi and Luan Ko nodded affirmative while Nabiki just shrugged then stretched out.

Ranma pushed on the door, but it wouldn't budge. Ranma pushed harder, but it still wouldn't open. Before attempting to give it a mighty shove, he turned to look at Kasumi. "Do you think we need to find a key first?" Ranma raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

Kasumi's response was cut off by Nabiki tapping Ranma on his shoulder before pointing to a sign on the door.

"Pull to Open" the sign had read. Ranma grinned sheepishly before saying, "Oops!"

Inside, the quartet found themselves in a large round chamber. All around, littered on the benchtops, were all sorts of magical research paraphernalia and potion making equipment. Many kinds of brass instruments and astronomical tools were scattered about. The walls were lined with bookshelves ladened with many large tomes and grimoires. A ghost floated up through the floor and regarded them first with a look of shock before it gave way to anger.

"Who are you to trespass in my innermost sanctum?" The ghost of R'aul bellowed.

Ranma shrugged. "Are you the ghost of R'aul?"

The ghost was taken aback, upset that someone as great and famous as him was not recognized. "Don't you know who I am, little worms?" The group all shook their heads no. R'aul was stunned at the response. Dismayed and angry, he decided to explain his greatness to his uninvited guests.

"When I was young, I trained under a great warlock. We almost succeeded in finding a way to turn people into slaves. Slaves are born, not made, and one who could make a slave, could control the slave market. But some bandits broke in, killed my master, and stole his research. But I got the last laugh, for it would take them generations to break the coded journals, and only another warlock could finish the research. So, masterless, I set out into the world. I gained power, money, and followers, so I came here. Back to the area where I was trained under my dear, dead master. I built this stronghold, enchanted it, and protected it. No one will ever learn all of my secrets, and the likes of you are no trouble at all. For, I will kill you now. In life and in death, this is my home, and you are not welcomed here at all. Uninvited vermin, DIE!"

The ghostly boss launched a spread of three glowing spheres of pale ghostly fire. The group broke up as everyone dodged in different directions. A quick look and hand gesture from Ranma to Luan Ko had her rushing to get to Nabiki and pull her to relative safety.

"If you give up now, I promise to make your deaths quick and painless," R'aul boasted as he conjured a ring of ghostly fire around himself.

Ranma and Kasumi decided to respond with action instead of words. Kasumi nocked an arrow in her bow and took aim. Ranma jumped over the fire and attempted a flying kick, but he passed right through the ghost. Kasumi's arrow, fired after Ranma cleared the target, likewise passed through the ghost doing no harm.

"Hahahaha," R'aul mocked them with his laughter. "Do you really think your flimsy little mortal weapons would have an effect on one who has conquered death?"

Meanwhile, Ranma and Kasumi regrouped along with Luan Ko. "Any ideas?" Ranma asked Kasumi, as they tried to put a bench or two in between them and R'aul.

Kasumi shook her head to indicate she had none. Their discussion was interrupted as more monsters joined the fray.

"Get them, my minions," crowed the evil wizard as he raised a small group of skeletal beasties with his magic.

The creatures rose up through the floor. They were seemingly composed from the skeletons of several different beasts and monsters. A long, horse like skull with long, sharp fangs topped a bipedal form with giant bat like wings sprouting from its back. Two pairs of shoulders supported four arms. Long finger bones ended in equally long claws. Toes were terminated with curved talons. A pale, transparent aura fleshed out the forms of the unholy creations. Acting like they had sniffed out some prey, the magical constructs closed in on Ranma and his friends. They made a strangle rattling noise as they approached.

Kasumi pondered the situation. "Do you think we have to defeat his army to beat him, or try to beat him while his army attacks?"

"I don't know. How would you beat a magical ghost?" Ranma questioned her.

"With magic, maybe," Nabiki said, expressing the obvious. She was cowering under a table not far from where her teammates stood.

However, further discussion had to wait as the monsters entered melee range.

Luan Ko let loose with the last of her throwing stars, but only the ones that struck bone seemed to do any damage. The rest passed swiftly through the ghostly flesh as if nothing was their. Pulling out her ninjato sword, she stood to Ranma's left while Kasumi took up on Ranma's right.

"Go for the bone. Kasumi, do you know any spells effective against the undead?"

With a leap and a snarl, the beasts were upon them. The three fighters each marked an enemy and forced the beasts to fight them man on man. Luan Ko blocked the swipe of a clawed hand with her sword and retaliated with a back kick of her own, driving her heel hard into the pelvis of the skeletal construct. Ranma ducked and weaved the attacks from his adversary, who was getting frustrated enough to use its wing bones as well as its many arms to keep up a constant pressure of attacks against Ranma. Finally leaving an opening, the ghostly warrior's offense was halted by a focused chestnut fist attack by Ranma. Over a hundred punches impacted as one upon the breastbone of the demonic looking minion, cracking the bone and knocking the entity backwards. Kasumi did not fare as well, finding four arms to be a little much for her to avoid. Finding herself grappled tightly by the many armed beast, she gave it a firm and solid headbutt, staggering it. Angry, it shrieked before leaning in to bite her, but Kasumi kneed it hard in the crotch before wiggling and pushing it off. The maddened skeleton beast lunged at her, only to meet Kasumi's sword as she decapitated it with a swing. Her opponent was the first to dissolve into dust as pale blue, ghostly energies dissipated into the ether. Nabiki, during all of this, stayed hidden under a table, trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible.

"You may have gotten lucky, little girl, but your struggles are only postponing your inevitable defeat," the ghost boss scolded Kasumi in a voice that promised pain. Kasumi looked over at him just in time to notice that he sent three more spirit bombs in her direction. With a lunge and a roll, Kasumi dodged the magical missiles as they passed safely over her head and exploded against the wall.

Ranma's win was next, as he saw how effective Kasumi's attack was. Grasping an arm that had been grabbing for him, Ranma threw the monster onto a nearby table. Many glass vials and bottles, each filled with a colorful liquid, broke underneath the beast causing the ghostly boss to screech, "My experiments!" Jumping up, Ranma came down upon the head of the beast with his right knee, snapping it's neck against the table's edge. The head tumbled along the floor as it, and the body it was separated from, collapsed into dust as well. Ranma noticed the boss flashed a little with the defeat of his minion.

"You vandals, you thugs, you tramps and thieves. Why don't you have the good graces to just roll over and die?!" R'aul was spitting mad and his eyes seemed like lightening: fiercesome, dangerous, and menacing. A clap of his hands caused an expanding ring of energy to explode from him. The spectral energy sliced through the room, passing safely through inanimate objects and his spectral and skeletal minion. Kasumi had ducked the pale blue ring of energy and Ranma jumped over it. However, the ring had impacted Luan Ko, knocking her sideways. Her opponent took advantage of her being down and pounced. Fortunately, Luan Ko rolled out of the way. She got back onto her feet with an impressive flip. Wiping some blood from her mouth, Luan Ko finished up her opponent by spending some SP on a powerful attack. The result of her Cat Scratch Fever was the skeleton raining down in a cloud of bony bits and dust.

With an inarticulate scream of rage, R'aul began to summon up another band of defenders to attack the adventurers. His ghostly body seemed to blink while he worked the spell. Noticing what he was up to, Kasumi tried to distract the warlock, by attacking, before he could finish his spell. The arrow she fired seemed to have actually struck him and the boss suffered a loss of life points.

"He's vulnerable when he blinks, get him," Kasumi shouted to Ranma as she nocked another arrow to fire. Kasumi's second arrow flew true as Ranma leaped at the floating specter, his sword glinting in the torchlight as he slashed at the dungeon's boss. Luan Ko's throwing knives struck the ghost right behind Ranma's own attack. Kasumi's third arrow was ineffective as R'aul stopped blinking.

The boss laughed an evil, mirthless laugh. "I underestimated you, but not again. These should finish off pests like you. Didn't I say you were unwelcomed here."

Ranma rejoined his group as a new wave of monstrosities rose out of the floor, once again. Decaying and decrepit, five giant, four legged, reptilian beasts stared down the trio. They were gray, with rotting flesh falling off of their body, long bony spikes stuck out every which way from their armor plated bodies. Horns on their heads, mouths full of sharp, meat tearing teeth, and large spiked balls on their tails, showed that these zombie predators were very dangerous to face. Snuffling and snarling, the large dead animals stood their ground and challenged the explorers.

"Oh boy," Ranma deadpanned. Kasumi just nodded and Luan Ko whimpered for a moment.

"We can do this," Ranma whispered to his friends. "Anyone else notice that defeating his army hurts the boss?"

"Really? That is good," Kasumi replied. "And he seems vulnerable when he calls them up. I didn't notice the first time, maybe the more he raises, the more magic he needs to cast, and the longer he's able to be hurt."

The undead creatures tired of the stare down and began to charge at the three fighters. The floor trembled and a great, thundering din arose from their many stampeding feet.

Kasumi and Luan Ko dodged to the sides while Ranma ran towards where Nabiki hid. Grabbing her, he jumped up towards the ceiling and stuffed her into some kind of hanging brass and silver astronomical contraption. The passage of the beasts underneath scattered the workbenches and knocked over many loose objects.

R'aul screamed in fury, "No! No! Look at this mess, will you. Aargh." R'aul's exclamations descended into an unintelligible yowling of gibberish.

Ranma dropped down. Nodding to Kasumi, they each grabbed one end of a large bench and lifted it. With a couple swings to build momentum, they tossed it at the clump of hulking zombies. It got impaled on the spikes of a couple of the monsters, keeping them busy with trying to free themselves form the wooden table. In the process, they spilled more of R'aul possessions onto the floor, causing him to splutter in incomprehensible wrath.

"Doesn't he ever shut up?" Ranma asked Kasumi, annoyed by the never ending commentary. Kasumi shrugged in response.

As the great animals started to bear down upon the game players again, Ranma launched a Möko Takabisha at the lead undead beast causing it to be knocked over onto it's side. As it struggled it regain its feet, two more beasts trod upon it in their pursuit of Ranma and Kasumi. Luan Ko flashed by overhead, tumbling through the air as she attempted to slash at one of the zombie's neck. However, her sword bounced off of the bony plate doing no harm.

R'aul laughed a mirthless laugh. "Your weapons will be of no use to you, little worms. They are but a gnat's bite to the greatness of my magic." He punctuated his statement by launching more glowing balls of spectral energy.

Kasumi didn't have time to do much more then dodge again. However, once she jumped over and cleared a table, she unslung her bow. Taking careful aim on a rampaging beast, she got off an eye shot that half blinded one of the creatures. Ranma grabbed at the horns of the other charging summoned minion. While he kept himself from being gored and skewered, his feet slid over two yards along the floor. With a mighty shake of its head, the beast threw Ranma up into the air. Twisting and turning insured that Ranma did not land either on the spiked back of the undead horror or in front of any trampling feet. The beast he had downed earlier was bearing down on him, though it seemed to be in pain. The other two had finally extricated themselves from the table. Ranma found himself with three approaching monsters on one side, and two more on the other. R'aul laughed at his predicament. Jumping up and flipping backwards to land by Kasumi, he watched as two of the beasts slammed into each other head on, stunning them. The others passed by each other so close that spikes were broken and shattered between the press of the bodies.

"You got lucky, vermin," R'aul raged at Ranma.

Scowling, Ranma nodded towards the two unconscious beasts as he met Luan Ko's eyes. Luan Ko nodded as she approached them. Two quick sword thrusts between the armor plates and into soft unprotected flesh and into the brain pan killed the zombies. Ranma fired another Möko Takabisha to deter the still awake and enraged monsters from attacking Luan Ko. Kasumi buried another arrow shaft into the eye of another beast. When it raised its head to bellow in pain, she targeted the soft underside of its throat, sinking another arrow into its Adam's apple. Grunting, the beast clawed clumsily at its own throat, trying to dislodge the arrow, but all it accomplished was to break the arrow off leaving the remainder still stuck in its throat. Bellowing in annoyance, the beast gave Kasumi another soft target. Immediately, Kasumi let fly another arrow, and it struck true inside the monster's mouth. The arrowhead burrowed deep enough through the soft flesh of the palate to strike into the brain of the zombie, killing it. Each death was marked with the boss flashing and losing life points.

"How much longer do you think you can keep this up? My zombie minions do not tire," R'aul stated scornfully before launching another spirit ripple. The gang ducked under the ring.

"Don't you ever shut up, you great, big windbag?" Ranma scowled some more. The boss's chattiness was getting on Ranma's nerves. His distraction cost Ranma, as the remaining two beasts collided with the table that stood in between them. Kasumi was already dodging, a warning on her lips, but Ranma was thrown back into a bookshelf along the wall. The shelving broke and books spilled all over Ranma and the floor. Luan Ko dashed by the zombie beasts, whacking them on the nose with her sword, to distract them from Ranma.

"Break some more of my stuff, why don't you?" R'aul's voice dripped with sarcasm. Ranma just grumbled as he dug himself out from underneath the books. He found that Luan Ko was hanging from the same instrument that Nabiki was dangling from and Kasumi was being menaced by the two remaining beasts. The other beasts that were killed were no where to be found.

Ranma charged at the beasts as Luan Ko silently dropped to the floor. Ranma grabbed one of the tails, wrapping his arms around the tail where it met the base of the spiked ball, and pulled. He gagged at the fetid odor of the decaying flesh. The beast scrabbled on the stone floor for purchase before stumbling to the ground. Ranma heaved hard on the tail, whipping the zombie into the air. However, the tail broke off of the beast sending it spiraling into a case of brass instruments and devices. Brass scales, weights, sundials, quadrants, and other objects clattered to the fieldstone floor. R'aul's cry of rage was drowned out by the lowing of the injured animal as it got back onto its feet.

Meanwhile, Luan Ko used her sword to attack the unprotected back of a hind leg knee of the other beast, capturing its attention. Turning its head to look behind itself, the beast opened a stretch of flesh on its neck. Kasumi immediately advanced and stabbed her sword into that space, between two plates, on the neck. Thrashing, the whipping head wrenched Kasumi's sword from her grasp. She jumped back, to make space between her and the enraged zombie.

Nabiki called down from her precarious perch, "Go for the brain, Kasumi. Everyone knows that to kill a zombie you have to destroy its brain."

"Kasumi, try to purify it," Ranma suggested in a loud voice from over where he was preparing on braining the great zombie beast with its own tail. He held the torn base of the tail, so he could use the spike ball tip to club the beast with.

Kasumi bravely faced the behemoth charging at her and cast a purify at the zombie. It screamed in pain as a pure white light enveloped it. Suddenly, it burst into a conflagration of flames and acrid smoke.

Ranma swung his impromptu flail at the last zombie's head, knocking the head to the side. However the beast kept charging, forcing Ranma to leap aside. The beast turned with a lot more agility then anything that size should have. Ranma swung again, a downward blow that shattered the horns on the forehead of the great monstrosity. The beast chomped down upon its own tail. Flailing his head, he whipped the appendage away from Ranma before thrashing it around wildly. Ranma tried to catch the tail but he got knocked off his feet and rolled across the floor. The beast spat out its own dismembered tail before turning to stare Ranma down. Ranma grabbed a nearby downed table and threw it along the floor. The table took the beasts feet out from under it, causing it to crash heavily onto the floor. Taking opportunity of the opening, Ranma leaped at the tailless zombie while calling out his attack, "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!" Caught between the stone floor and Ranma's chestnut roasting on an open fire fist, the creature's armored head shattered and its skull split open. Capitalizing on the beasts stunned state, Ranma quickly unsheathed his sword and plunged it through the broken head into the brain of the magical construct.

"What? Fine, I shall call up even more minions. I'll use up all my magic if I have to in order to get rid of you cockroaches." R'aul once again began to blink as he summoned the next wave of personal bodyguards.

Ranma fired off a couple Möko Takabisha at the weakening boss. Kasumi shot him with her arrows. Luan Ko leaped at him, slashing with her poisonous sword. The boss was still blinking and still busy raising another army. Ranma thought he seemed to be vulnerable longer then the previous time and decided to 'strike while the iron is still hot', as they say. Ranma dashed in with a powerful sword strike followed up with a spinning back kick, knocking the boss into a nearby wall. Ranma raised his fists for another strike when R'aul stopped strobing.

"Hahaha," R'aul laughed in demented glee. "Knock me into a wall? Attack me in my own lair? Try to steal my treasures? I have finally fixed you, worm."

R'aul cackled evilly as his summoned minions seemed to flow from the floors and walls of the chamber. Ten of them appeared, spaced evenly around the room, encircling the group instead of starting in a clump like the others. They seemed to be made of the very stones of the keep. Disjointed, stone golem like creatures that were imbued with the pale blue aura of the previous monsters. The ghostly energies were most apparent where two pieces of stone met in a joint. Seemingly, spectral energies were what held the stone imps together. They began to march forward, tightening their circle around the adventurers.

"Hahaha," R'aul laughed menacingly. "Did you not think that after all the time I spent here, that my very own chamber would not be able to defend me from bandits? Now you shall all die by the very stones of my home."

"Ranma-kun, got any big attacks left in you?" Kasumi worriedly asked her teammate.

Ranma replied, deep in thought, "I have about enough for two, when I take these down, prepare to move on R'aul. If we all three hit him, I think we can end it now."

Kasumi and Luan Ko nodded their acknowledgment. As the monsters pounced, Ranma let loose with a Dark Sky Crush, obliterating them. R'aul suffered another large flash as his life points diminished. Ranma and company made their move as the Boss began to flicker and blink.

"I refuse to believe that – erk," R'aul began to rant, however he was cut off as Ranma launched a Vacuum Blade Storm, Kasumi initiated a Swan Maiden Lament, and Luan Ko targeted the boss with an Elemental Quad-Blast. The attacks collided with R'aul while he was still vulnerable, depleting his life points. With a shrill shriek, the boss collapsed to the floor. With effort, he began to stir, lifting himself up on one arm.

Ranma smirked down at the defeated body of R'aul. It was a hard won victory, and Ranma felt like gloating. The ghostly body of R'aul finished sitting up, with difficulty. His breathing seemed labor, which was seemingly out of place for a ghost.

R'aul addressed the small band of adventurers. "You have w-*wheeze*-won, I shall tell *cough* you a secret. Once, when I was a young teen, *Cough* I wanted to be an elf. So, I went to the Oracle of change. Unfortunately, I did not have enough gold. If only I *Hack* had been able to buy her services. If only I had gone back, I could be beautiful, like your girl there." He points to Nabiki. "I can see, young one, you wish to change as well." Blood dribbles from his lips as he spasms. "Find Thermopolis, up in the peaks of the Skyclaws. There, you will find the Temple of *Cough* Callipyge, where the oracle lives. *Cough* You must set forth across the sea. Find *Hack* Turtle Island, the old man there knows the way, *Spasm* but beware the Maelstrom Pass Whirlpool and the songs of the Sea Maidens. *Cough, cough, hack*" Without another word, the ghost fades from existence.

"What now?" Ranma addressed his question to the girls.