Chapter 3, The Stranger
As we circled each other, glares passing back and forth, the air seeming to be charged with the intensity of our small bout, I found myself wanting to get out of here alive to find that mysterious stranger. Something so minute given my current predicament was the only thing I could think of. Oh well. Guess I am gonna be searching for a good while after this. I charged the Commander, knocking it's balance off and slashing horizontally along it's chest. Jumping back, I queued a sword skill, thrusting my blade upwards through it's defense and connecting the tip straight into it's chin. With a final gargling roar, the Goblin Commander burst into small diamonds, glowing in the faint light of the dying torches.
"Well thats over. Now where are….?" I glanced around, noticing that the smaller goblins had run off, not even a trace of gleaming eyes anywhere to be seen.
"Oh come on. They would have been easy xp. Little bastards." I sighed, smiling despite my anger. "Well at least I survived. And not too shabby a reward." Glancing around, I spotted a chest and opened it, finding a one handed longsword better than my current one.
"Now I just gotta find the way out of here. I wonder..."
Walking over to where the cave door had been, I noticed that a small circle of sunlight followed its curves, something that had definitely not been there before. "So that's it huh?" I pushed at the rock slab and it began to move, rolling back to it's open position on unseen hinges, a reminder of the boundaries of this world. It still is just a game.
Where to go now? Head to the town, or keep dungeoneering?
Just as the thought crossed my mind that I didn't have enough col for the gear worth anything in the second town, a sound rang out from the woods. A small, almost indiscernible noise. But a noise that would come to mean the difference between life and near death in the years to come.
A branch cracking.
In the real world, I would never think twice about such an insignificant sound. But here, where the rules lead to glory or absolute death, a cracking branch can decide your fate for you.
Drawing my newly liberated blade, I scanned the tree line behind the goblin cave. Spotting nothing in its dim depths.
No, not nothing. There was a small glint, as if sunlight off water, on my right side. As I processed the possibilities of its source, a new noise reached my ears.
The gentle rasp of a slender blade leaving its sheath.
The sound was too loud and prolonged for a dagger, but too soft and resonant to be a great sword. Axes, maces, hammers and such don't have full sheaths, so that left two choices.
A one handed longsword like my own.
Or a rapier like that of my savior.
AN: I apologize for how long it has taken me to post a new chapter. I had written almost 12 chapters, which were then destroyed because of a new puppy in my house. (He ate nearly all of the notebook) Here is the beginning of chapter 3. I know it is not very long, but I enjoy this cliffhanger to an extreme and wanted you to all experience it. I will update this chapter with the next 2/3s of it as I finish rewriting it all. It isn't the same story I had originally written, but it is still very good, if I say so myself. I have been enjoying writing this and will be doing a massive update after I finish chapter 3. The next update I swear will hold at least 3 chapters to be added.
Thank you all for the reviews as well. I know it was very presumptuous of me to ask for reviews on such a new and short story, but I needed to know if anyone was actually enjoying this. And for future reference, any future news updates will be released in a "non-chapter" which will then be replaced by the proper chapter after it is completed. I appreciate all your patience and the reviews were extremely welcome.
Should I call out? What if they're a PKer? I questioned myself on what to do, almost certain there wasn't a normal enemy, but in fact a player. The fact that they could be a PKer, the infamous title of those labeled in the community as Player Killers, kept me silent.
Well if I don't call out, I may be caught unawares. There could be more than one if they are a PKer. They don't normally work alone. This was very true. In many of the RPG's I had played before SAO, roving bands of PKers infected the system like a plague, wreaking havoc and causing general unrest while giving the game a bad rep.
Another common thing for PKer's to do is act like a hero, saving people from situations they can't handle only to stab them in the back. My "savior" may very well have been a scout for them, the initial step to getting my guard down and making an attack easier.
But why save me then? if I had died in there, all my gear would have been left behind for them to freely grab. Especially since just three people would have cleared every goblin out with no issue at all!
Still confused about why a PKer squad would even bother saving me, I noticed movement among the foliage, quick little flashes of the leaves and branches being moved aside as something made its path through. Well, looks like Im going to find out what made the flash soon enough.
Keeping my stance, slowing my breathing to a steady sequence, I closed my eyes, reaching out with my limited Search skill to try and identify what I could of my possible threat. Damn. Not able to pick anything up huh? Opening my eyes once more, I looked towards the trees, following the movement of the underbrush before dashing towards it, my blade held low and to the side behind me, an attempt to keep it from tangling in the branches.
As I entered the thick forest carpet, everything seemed to change. My senses felt different, more… enhanced. The light outside the trees had been extremely bright while I was out there, but was now dimmed, allowing me to see further across the path. I could feel the individual grooves of the cloth wrapped around my sword's hilt, the grip conforming to my palm more solidly than before. As I took in these new factors, all seeming to work towards bettering my awareness of my surroundings, I realized that I could no longer hear the cracking of branches, the swish of the leaves as the unknown inhabitant had moved.
Did they stop moving? Did they leave the treeline? I can hear a group of players far down the road, two of them arguing over who would lead, but I can't hear what I had just been watching. How odd…
Just then, a patch of ferns exploded, a cloaked figure holding a slim silver rapier rushing and then pinning me against a tree. Still shadowed, I could make no details out as to what this player looked like, but, minus the rapier point aimed at my throat, they didn't seem to mean me any harm. So in wake of what happened in the goblin cave, I decide to introduce myself.
"If you could please remove your blade from my throat, I would like to thank you for saving me back there." I watched the figure while speaking, no movement betraying their intentions. It felt as if I was being held captive by a statue. Well if that isn't ironic…
"You're a damned fool aren't you?" A gruff voice escaped from the shadows under the hood. Just as I became worried they actually were a PKer, the stranger let go of me, sheathing their rapier in a single flourish, twirling it slightly and slamming it home. "Only a fool would try and take on one of those caves solo straight from the Town of Beginnings."
"Well I guess I'm a fool then. May I ask who and what you are, if you aren't a fool yourself?"
"Since you want to thank me, I guess you should do so properly. The names Gailden. And you?"
"Kirito. Nice to meet you Gailden. By the way, if it is such a foolish venture, why would you enter the cave to save me?"
With a chuckle, Gailden swept back his hood before speaking, long strawberry blonde hair draping down to his shoulders. Sea green eyes with thick eyelashes, tweezed eyebrows and a gentle droop to the edges of his eyes made him seem friendly. A broad forehead inhabited the area between his eyebrows and hairline. His nose was small, gently curved, except for the end. His nose ended in a sharp point, his nostrils flared underneath causing it to resembles the side of a rocket with fins. His cheeks were full with small defining lines along his cheekbones, all of which seemed to lead your eyes to a strong chiseled jawline, dimpled chin with slight stubble, and generic lips, pursed slightly with a feminine curve to the upper but masculine width on the bottom.
"I guess you can call me a bit of a fool as well. But even if what Kayaba said is false, and we don't actually die out there if we die in here, I still wasn't gonna let you die outright. Besides, you seemed to have handled it after I left. And you got some rewards too didn't you?"
"Seems like the two of us will get along then. May I ask where you were headed?"
"To the second town. Same as you, am I correct?"
"Yeah I'm heading that way. I believe it may be a benefit to us both if we travel together as well." I smiled slightly, offering Gailden my hand.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Should we party up, Kirito?" He took my hand, returning the smile, laugh lines crinkling around the edges of his eyes.
"Well I see no reason not to, Gailden." After shaking his hand firmly, I opened the menu, sending him a party invite. "Just until the second town though. I have plans once we get there."
"Of course. You really think I plan on following around a cocky brat all day?" He chuckled, accepting the invite and gesturing ahead of us in the direction of the town. "After you Kirito."
"Heh. You ought to watch who you call cocky. It may just be me saving you next time." Despite the exchange, I took the lead, looking back once to confirm Gailden would keep up.
"Oh? Well if that ever happens, I will personally be your servant. I guarantee you it never will though."
"You never know what can happen. In fact, for all you do know, I could be vastly superior to you."
"That's why you seemed to resign yourself to death in the goblins' lair eh?"
"You know, I really regret that now. It still stings." Even with our back and forth, I felt happy, glad to have found a friend if even for a little while. Maybe we will be able to work together for longer than this path. Maybe we can stay allies all the way to floor 100. Just maybe.
"Well come on Kirito. Keep up!" I glanced up, not noticing I had stopped walking and seeing Gailden now leading the way. "You frozen by a goblin again?"
"Oh you will get it one day. I guarantee you that." I couldn't help but smile again, something I didn't expect to do in this world. Not only a smile. With a laugh, I jogged up to Gailden's side and gestured for him to continue with me. "Lets get to the next town. Then we will see who is the better."
"You suggesting a wager young one?" His eyes sparkled mischievously. "If you are, you better be ready to pay up in the end."
"Thats exactly what I'm doing. And it won't be me paying up. The wager is to see which of us can get to the first floor boss faster. And which of us will win as well."
"You sure enjoy living dangerously. Very well. I accept your wager. Now as for the stakes…"
"If you win, I will serve you. If I win, you will never mention that whole goblin cave fiasco to anyone. Ever."
He grinned at me. "Is that really all you want? I mean, all you had to do was ask me nicely. But since thats the offer, you have yourself a deal, Kirito."
"Yes thats all I want. Now you better not give up on this bet either, Gailden. I wouldn't want to win because you forfeit."
"In your dreams little man!" He smiled broadly, chuckling as we walked. "If you ever wish to win this bet, you are going to need a hell of a lot of training."
"And you are going to need to be damned lucky if you hope to defeat me."
"We will see Kirito. We will see."
We continued our journey, talking about goals we had in this game, and some of our ideas for the real world. After another hour we reached the second town, a smaller but more organized place than the Town of Beginnings. And as we had agreed, we dissolved the party, and set out in different directions. But before we were gone from each other's sight, Gailden turned to me, his kind gaze and warm smile the same as before.
"I will wait for you at the entrance to the dungeon Kirito. You better survive until then, you cocky brat."
"The same goes for you, you annoying gimp."
He laughed, and waved to me as he turned his back, walking off into the landscape surrounding the town. The last I ever saw of Gailden was that silhouette against the sunlight. After clearing the first floor, I went back to the Town of Beginnings to check the names adorning the massive obsidian monolith that was now in place over the respawn point. Sure enough, there he was, a line slashing through his name. Gailden. Skewered by a Goblin Commander. You damned fool…
AN: I am glad to see people still enjoying this story and and proud to present the finished chapter 3. I hope you dont mind the little bit of jump into the future at the end, because I believe it to be a very interesting ending. Please let me know what you all think of Gailden, and my story if you are new. I welcome all suggestions and opinions. Look out for chapter 4. I am already rewriting it.
Sincerely, KiritoYakuza
