Chapter 3 – Quest and Level
"Yo, Argo." I said as I tapped the shoulder of the cloaked player in front of me. She stopped and slowly turned her head, facing me. I could not see the top part of her head, including her eyes, her hood covering it. What I could see was the black stripes that were drawn on both of her cheeks, making them seem as whiskers. The female player in front of me was none other than «Argo, the Rat», the first information dealer in «Sword Art Online». With a short movement she shook my hand off of her and placed the palm of her hand at a distance of 5 centimeters from my face.
"Sexual harassment, 100 col" she said with a small tint of a smile as she pointed her fingers at me, but soon afterwards she lowered her arm and let out a big sigh "I don't have anything worthwhile this time, just information that you should already know by now." She said lowering her head a little and making a movement as if to get away from me.
I followed her until we reached a house, inhabited by NPC's of course, just after that she aligned her back on the nearby wall and said in a low voice.
"1.000 col, it is valuable information and hard to find at that."
This is how she works, if she says that she has no information she must have something she does not want to share with others, that's why I decided to follow her. Since I am not as familiar with this game as much as the beta testers I often seek all the information I can possibly get from anywhere, that way, finding the best places for hunting and some of the best quests. For a week now I have been in touch with Argo for valuable information such as the one that I am offered right now. I don't mind paying for the info I get as long as I can get my money off of it.
"Sure." I said as I opened the trade menu and inserting the 1.000 col into the box, then pressing the blue, round button, finishing the trade. After the end of the deal, Argo, used her hands to separate herself from the wall and with a loud sigh she started talking.
"West from here, if you take the road leading trough the jungle, there is a small town. You can take a quest from there that will assure you the best weapon that you could get on this floor, well except for the weapon dropped by the boss. It is not an easy quest, I warn you. You should take at least some potions or crystals with you. From the look of your equipment it seems that you are using the hunting spots that I suggested." After this she paused a little, looking at me from head to toes and then continued. "You should be fine with this equipment." She said as she began leaving as I did just the same. As we reached the plaza of the town I could hear her words as the sound of people talking and walking around intensified.
"Make sure you don't die. It would be bad to loose one of my customers."
With that she made her way trough the stream of people, heading towards the exit. The NPC's in this area are more active than the ones in the Starting City. As a matter of fact they often get out of their houses and do simple chores around, leading to many repeatable quests, but the EXP they give no longer influence me.
In a matter of two weeks I managed too make it to level 6, but I couldn't have done it without some help from Argo. When we first met I was wandering around in one of the towns that were close to the Starting City, looking for quests. Probably because she wanted to make some easy col from me the first thing she said was:"For 500 col I will give you some info on leveling quests around here." Thinking back on my meetings with her, there was no conversation not to start with a price. Not even when the info was free. But thanks to her I am on par with the early starters that probably were beta testers. With that I walk amongst the NPC's that gathered in the central plaza, looking for supplies for my journey to come.
Healing crystals, potions, I need to be prepared for everything that could happen, even more so as I am a solo player.
In those two weeks that have passed since the day we were announced that we no longer can get in contact with the real world more than 1.000 players have died. Some of the players still alive have chosen to wait in the Starting City, being afraid of facing the monsters outside of the safety of the walls. Nobody can blame them for that decision, not since death in game means death in real life. But I made my mind regarding this matter. I will fight until I clear this game or die at the hand of a monster. Both of them are plausible, but the latter has the bigger possibility of happening. In those two weeks that have passed a bit more than half of the first floor was explored. This fact scares players beyond anything else, but it also means that we made a little bit of progress. I do not know how many years will have to pass to finish this game, and it does not matter. I aim for it. The end of this nightmare.
—But until then.
"Good day." I speak to a nearby vender, getting his attention. It is an old man, with mustache and everything. A classic NPC inspired from the old online games. His voice brings a warm welcome and the trade window is displayed, showing all the items he has to offer. I inspect the details of every potion and decide to take 10 over-time healing potions and press the buy button. With a word of joy the old trader returns to his business. But…
As I leave the area I see a hooded player walking towards me. It is a male player, around 20 years old, I cannot see his face. As a weapon I see on the side of his trousers something similar to a butcher's knife. Underneath the robe I could see his smile, his white teeth showing as he watched me from beneath the hood. I did not know why but all of my senses told me he was dangerous. It seemed that even the flow of time has stopped as we walked toward each other, I couldn't even hear the BGM anymore. I was frightened. It did not occur to me before that in this game even PK was possible. We were facing each other now, both of us still walking. At that moment I instinctively moved away from him as we passed one another. As soon as I did not saw him anymore I managed to get a grip on myself, but with three words I lost it again.
"See you later."
I heard him in a whisper, loud enough only for me to hear. I almost stopped dead in my tracks, but I managed not to falter. He did not stop either. 'He is dangerous' I thought as I felt again that moment a couple of second ago when I first saw him. I should stay clear of players like him, but still there are times when I could meet him outside of town. That would be bad, very bad. For the first time since that announcement, I doubted myself. I doubted that playing solo was the right choice anymore. But who. Who could I get myself to join a party with? Since I do not interact much with others I do not know how I should act, or what should I say.
"For now… maybe I should get something to eat." I say in a low voice as I sence my stomach growling. Even inside this game, the need to eat is there, same with exhaustion, but they are illusions made up by our brains. That does not mean we should not obey them, since the lack of food or sleep can affect our concentration while fighting.
"To stay alive…" I mutter in silence as I head towards a shop that sells bread.
The lowest price is 1 col, but the bread tastes rather blanc, at least setting our hunger. I decide to take a 10 col piece, this one tasting more like normal bread. I buy it, and wander around town for a peaceful place to sit while eating. I need to get that guy out of my head at least.
After about 10 minutes I find a church that has view over the whole valley. Entering the building I see no one inside, the wooden benches facing the altar looking a little bit old but not even a spec of dust was present on them. The windows made of stained glass filtered the rays of the sun, making it seem like a true holy place. The candles on each side of the walls were not lit, but they gave the impression of antique. I saw a couple of stairs made of white stone at the edge of my vision on the right, perhaps leading towards the top of the bell tower. Without any reason to hesitate, I climb them with great speed and soon I am faced with the landscape stretching in front of me. Forests, cities and paths throughout the wildland, I could see them all. At the edge of the terrain I could see clouds spreading far into the sky and straight up, the stone ceiling on which the layout of the second floor is situated. I open my inventory screen and walk towards one of the edges of the tower and sitting on it, I materialize the bread in the palm of my hand. I bite a little bit as my sight wanders around.
"Here is peaceful." I say in a low voice as I close my eyes for a second, enjoying the taste of the bread.
—But then.
I sense a small pain in my back focused on a single point. No. I am wrong. The pain is spreading fast on my back starting from that point, seemingly making the form of an object. After a short delay I realize what was causing it, but it is too late. Within a second I slipped from the place I was sitting and started falling. Actually, I believe that the word slipped is not properly used in this situation. As a better word to describe the action I will use the word 'pushed'. I was 'pushed' from the bell tower of the church by a player that managed to land a kick on my lower back. As I realize this I am faced with the hard concrete of the streets of the city. I could hear the voice of a female player as my face met the coldness of the digital terrain.
"That's what you get for stealing my spot!" I heard her say.
That is addressed to me right? Isn't it? Enraged as I lost my bread —breaking in this instant into small pieces resembling glass right in front of me as it touched the ground— I get up and look towards the place I was a couple of seconds ago. Something that seemed as a small figure from this distance stared right at me. I watch the bar on the edge of my vision, on the top left, to see that about 20% or more of my HP was gone from that fall. Without any delay I jump on top of the nearest house and from there straight to the edge of the bell tower, grabbing the ledge and facing the person in front of me.
"Well, that was fast." The player in front of me said as soon as she saw my face, not moving even a little bit, probably because of shock. Her curly, cyan hair met her skin at the edge of her lowered shoulders, the armour she was wearing being one of the lightest ones in the game, letting enough space for moving freely in it. Looking at her figure I could say that she was about the same age as me. She was actually pretty beautiful, but that did not matter to me at the moment since I wanted to avenge my bread. The first words that I said to her being:
"I COULD have DIED!" I yelled at her as I made sure to underline the words 'could' and 'died'. Her expression changed into a frown, but she did not object to what I said, she just stood silent. Seeing no movement what so ever I put my legs on the ledge and let them drop onto the floor of the tower. "If I was with 4 levels lower I would have certainly died." I let the words out as I sat once again in my original place. Even if this is a safe-zone, the «Fall Damage» that we get from falling from hight places is still in effect. I heard that this is a common way of suicide, used in the Starting City.
"I am sorry." A short and low voice announced those words. If she was not in front of me for visual confirmation I would have concluded that that was the voice of a child being scolded by his parents. To be honest, I found it a little bit cute, but I would not let it get to me.
"Well, I did not come back to scold your behavior as a player, but to avenge my bread." I said with a tone that could be easily mislead as being a heroic one, or something similar, the purpose of this sentence being to lighten the atmosphere between the two of us.
"Your… bread…" she slowly repeated what I said, looking completely dumbstruck, but soon after, she started laughing.
"You are an interesting one." She said as she managed to calm down. "I am «Elise». Nice meeting you." She said with a large smile thrusting her hand towards me. I grabbed her hand into a handshake. Her skin was soft, but I could sense that her real strength was quite something. 'She must be at least the same level as me if not higher.' I thought as I replied. "You can call me «Shima». As well, nice to meet you." After I finished my line our hands separated and her voice could be heard once more.
"What were you doing here?" She said as she sat on the north edge of the tower.
"Obviously, trying to eat as I watched the scenery. But now I am left only with the later one." I answer as my sight trails off onto the distance once more.
"Hmmm…" I hear her as she starts moving towards me. I could also hear her inventory menu being dropped and the sound of her hand manipulating some options, probably on some item. One second later she pushes the side of her arm into my shoulder, trying to get my attention. "Here." She says handing me an item, a sandwich that must have costed at least 50 col. "I am sorry for wasting your bread." I could see that she also had one in her other hand so I accepted her offer.
"Thank you." I said as I gladly started eating the sandwich, but as I do so, I get an idea.
"Hey…" I say making her look towards me. "What do you say? Could you help me with a quest?"
Yo. Mike here. The fourth chapter will be published as soon as it is finished (in a week or so), the chapter being perhaps the longest I ever managed to write. Also I would like some reviews and suggestions, good or bad. I hope that this chapter was good enough, but sorry for the lack of action. Oh, and also I will update from time to time the cover, as I am about to put in some colour (I don't like blanc drawings... funny because what I do the most is sketching...), so stay tuned for that. Other than that... nope, nothing. See you guys later.