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November 11, 2022

Floor 1, Hills of Ydras

"So, where too now?" Israel sheathed his sword and shook out his sore sword wrist as the on death explosion billowed out around them. Jae pointed at his stat screen in exasperation.

"What, no congratulations?" he asked.

Israel put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun as he examined the forked road. Splitting into two narrow paths that branched off in opposite directions, the fork was oddly placed as there were no hills or other obstructions ahead to explain the reasoning behind it.

Sighing irritably, Israel lowered his hand from his eyes and gestured at the two new roads. "What's his name, that beta guy, he never said anything about this."

Jae rolled his eyes as he finished putting his new attribute points into his vitality. He had just reached level 6, putting him a level ahead for the moment, but Israel had always had a habit of ignoring moments when he wasn't ahead or better at something.

"I'm pretty sure his name was Malachi, Is. And yes actually, he did mention this. You just weren't listening because you were talking to that girl who was with him."

Israel managed to bite back a retort, but couldn't quite give up on a sarcastic smile. "Fine then, what did this Malachi guy say? It took us way too long getting in touch with him, so his info had better be reliable."

Shortly after their meeting with Naomi, Jae and Israel had decided to take her advice and the next day they had set out for the village of Trevica, only to realize how vast the floor really was. The farthest they had explored was just beyond the plains and fields surrounding the Town of Beginnings, so they had had no idea just how much ground they would need to cover or which way to go without getting lost or stumbling on mobs too strong for them to handle.

Heading back to town, the two had searched again for Naomi, but instead stumbled on another beta tester who sold information for money or items. It was from him they learned that these "info-brokers" were apparently dozens in number, with some knowing much more than others. The one they had found knew little about the quest at Trevica, but he freely tipped them off to the whereabouts Malachi, one of the leading info brokers, who could help.

Still, it had taken some time to find him, and in exchange for a step by step direction document leading to Trevica, Malachie had charged them nearly 500 Col. It took them a full morning to crisscross the fields and valleys leading to the Hills of Ydras, which marked the halfway point to Trevica. After all that, Israel was beginning to doubt whether a cheaper blacksmith was worth the trouble.

Jae opened up his inventory and swapped out his spear for the paper.

"It says that we ignore the fork and keep going straight. Before long, the road will appear again and we just keep heading north."

Israel shook his head. "Why the hell would the road disappear? I'm starting to think Kayaba turned this into a death game to hide the fact that SAO is retarded."

Jae shrugged. "Actually, it makes sense. Creating fake paths like this is a good way of ensuring that players don't just stumble onto this quest and reap the rewards. If everyone was getting items, equipment, and repairs at less than half price, it would be too OP and Col would quickly lose it's value. Stuff like that could make the game really unfair and lose a lot of it's point."

Israel blinked. "Is is just me, or are you over here admiring Kayaba's online game making skills?"

Jae rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and start walking."

Israel bowed at the waist dramatically. "As you command, fearless leader." The sarcasm was palpable in his words.

Jae shook his head in annoyance as he re-equipped his spear, but at the same time, he couldn't help but smile. Israel had always had a strong personality, and that was putting it mildly. Still, Jae thought as he attempted to find a silver lining, that's what makes him so much fun to be around.

It took them the better part of an hour before they found the main road again. Though both were pleased to be on the right track, their happiness was shadowed by unease. They had never walked this far away from the Town of Beginnings before, and weren't sure what monsters awaited them here. They kept their weapons out at all times, save for when Jae checked the direction paper. It had quickly become habit for each of them to constantly turn and check their immediate surroundings for any mob spawns.

As they continued their trek, the two ignored monsters that were out of their way, but several times they stumbled upon small packs of large boars or giant insects that herded near the roads. Working together, the two brothers had no trouble eliminating them, for both Jae and Israel trusted one another with their lives, and covered each other constantly. In this fashion, they could go on the offensive against enemies, confident that the other was at his side to prevent the threat of isolation or of being surrounded.

As the afternoon began to set in, the two had just cleared out a nest of aggressive ravens when Israel pointed with his sword.

Following the tip of his blade, Jae saw it too: a small entrance leading into the side of one of the many hills around them.

"What are you thinking?" Jae asked. He made a quick look around to be sure they could afford to focus on the cave.

Israel took a sip from the waterskin he had picked up off a mob as he rested his worn out sword against his shoulder. Jae could tell the durability of the weapon was nearly up. If Israel's sword broke before they reached Trevica, they would undoubtedly have to turn back. Walking around unarmed was a risk that neither one of them was prepared to face.

"We can't go in right now. My damage isn't high enough and we don't know how far it goes. It might even wind up being a dungeon. Besides, we're in the middle of a quest. I think we should take a minute and take a note of where this place is," Israel replied. "Is it possible to write down the location on that paper he gave you?"

Jae shook his head. "I don't have any ink. I wouldn't be able to write anything on this. Although," he added, "Committing this spot to memory won't be hard. Let's see…"

Taking out the document, Jae glanced from it to the area they were in for a quick confirmation before unequipping it again and giving the thumbs up to Israel, who raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"You can remember exactly where this cave is, in the middle of all these hills, that easily?"

Jae shook his head. "It's not about remembering anything. You just gotta pay attention to landmarks." He gestured behind him as he explained. "The hills around this immediate area are set in a ring, which is easy to make out, and taller than the others, so it'll be easy to spot them from far off. On top of that, there's a couple trees on the summit of two of them here, and this area doesn't have many trees at all."

Israel whistled as he haphazardly swiped at some gnats flying too close for comfort. "I don't know man, that doesn't seem like much to go on, but I guess it depends on how close we are to this town we're after. How far we'd have to walk back here."

Jae nodded. "The paper Malachi gave us says that Trevica is just out of earshot west of these hills here. Not even an hour to go."

"Thank Christ." Israel's tone took on a relieved note. "I was starting to get nervous with how far we were going."

"I know what you mean. It's easy for me to keep from getting lost for a time, but we were starting to push it."

"That," Israel replied, "or our nerves are just getting the better of us. I'm pretty confident in our abilities to fight off whatever comes at us, but traps and mazes are another story entirely. Every RPG has them somewhere."

Jae nodded. "It kinda makes me wonder how strong that Naomi girl is. She said this was a really easy and relatively safe quest, but she's been going it alone since day one. But I mean she did say she's a bet- hey dumbass, what are you doing?"

Striding over to the entrance of the cave, Israel pointed at a small boulder nearby.

"I don't want someone else finding this before we get a chance to check this place out. Let's roll this over and hide the entrance."

"Good idea." Jae said as he walked forward.

Standing on one side of the circular rock, the two began pushing at the same time, trying to get it to start moving towards the entrance. It didn't so much as budge.

"Keep at it," Israel ordered through gritted teeth. Straining with all their might, both began to break out in a sweat as they pushed. The boulder still wouldn't move. Switching his stance, Israel stopped pushing with his hands and instead dropped his shoulder into it, heaving with all his strength. Jae nearly fell from the strain as he felt the vein in his forehead begin to bulge.

After what seemed an eternity, Israel and Jae both finally gave up, dropping to the ground and laying down where they stood.

"I guess our strength parameters aren't as…" Israel had to pause to take in a ragged breath before continuing. "Great as we thought."

"I don't get it…" Jae panted, "Our stats are pretty good...and with our combined strength…"

Just as Israel was about to reply, a scream of terror cut through the air.

Jumping to their feet as best they could, Israel and Jae broke out in a forced run towards the sound of the scream without hesitation, equipping their weapons as they bounded over the rocks.

Another scream, different from the first, reverberated through the hills just ahead of them. Already exhausted, the boys were both stumbling by the time they saw what was happening: Three players, with their health bars nearly depleted, were fighting desperately as they tried to retreat away from six low level goblins. Judging by the shards still flying through the air and the stunned looks from the three players, it was obvious that somebody had already died.

Without a moment's pause, Israel leapt into the fray, brandishing his rusty sword as he screamed in fury. Jae tried to catch hold of his sleeve, to tell him that in their condition, they might not be able to offer much assistance. They needed to analyze the terrain, use the surrounding area to their advantage, but Israel didn't even stop to think.

Before he could so much as speak, Israel was gone.

Immediately, the thought of his brother in danger surpassed all others, and Jae would die before betraying the trust Israel had in him to watch his back. Twirling his spear in front of him like a quarterstaff as he charged, Jae allowed the bloodrush of battle to overwhelm all other senses. It was time to kill.