Life in Sword Art Online had started to feel normal. Aaros began teaching Naya and myself to learn to read an opponent's moves, and be aware of our surroundings at all times; he was giving us a crash course in his military training.
We're getting close to ending our third week in this world, tomorrow is November 26, and the first floor still hasn't been cleared. Nobody has even made it to the labyrinth yet, or so that's what Argo says.
I decide to relay this information to my friends tonight, whenever we decide to settle down for the night. We've been staying out of towns for the past week and a half, trying to make as much progress on the frontier as possible. At the moment, we're still traversing the plains, keeping the swamp about a half mile to our right, giving us a place to use as a reference, and also some place to escape to, should the need arise.
Aaros finally speaks up well after the sky had gotten dark.
"Alright, we're setting up camp for the night. Naya, start on the tents, I'll help. Sar, start working on the fire and dinner."
Naya and I show our approval, setting about our assigned tasks. Aaros has been keeping us apart for some time, and it's starting to get to us. We're always casting sideways glances to each other, and smiling when we make eye contact. It's not too bad, though. Naya seems to have found something to keep herself busy at night, so that's a relief. I suppose I should find something to work on in my spare time, as well.
After gathering enough wood for a fire, I looked through my inventory to see what I had to cook with. With Aaros assigning me to cook each time, I've been able to level my cooking skill enough that I'm able to decently cook common foods. Deciding on a good pork chop, I set out to prepare a dish that my friends would enjoy. After prepping the ingredients, all I had left to do was sit and wait for it to cook.
As the food cooked over the fire, I glanced over at Naya and Aaros who had just finished pitching up the tents. Seeing all of us work together, it made me feel like we were a family. With Aaros as the dad to keep us both in line. It was a happy feeling.
A soft ding indicated that the food was done cooking. Grabbing three plates from my inventory, I stacked pork chop after porkchop until each of the plates had three nicely seared pork chops.
"Guys. Dinner's ready." I called, handing them each a plate as they gathered around the fire.
Naya and I get ready to stuff our faces before we notice Aaros doing something out of the usual. With the plate balanced in his lap, Aaros had his head bowed and was muttering something to himself. It didn't take long for me to realize that he was praying.
I was about to continue eating as I saw Aaros close his prayer before Naya broke the silence.
"Aaros, is there something troubling you?" She asked in a worried tone.
I had to agree, something did seem to be weighing down on his mind. In all the years I'd known Tyler, he always did his best to stay calm and collected. Rarely did he let his guard down and show some form of weakness.
"My wife always said a prayer before she ate a meal. I can't recall one time where Missy forgot to pray before eating," Aaros said, cracking a slight smile at the mention of her name. "Doing this makes me feel like she's right here next to me. It gives me the strength to keep on going."
That's when it all made sense to me. I always looked at Tyler as this man who would adapt to any situation without the slightest hint of emotion. But, in reality, it was actually the complete opposite. Though he did adapt to the situation, he had to show emotion just to keep himself sane. Though it showed more of his human side than I had ever seen, it was sad to see my best friend during a moment of weakness.
The tension in the air was shattered as Naya wrapped her arms around Aaros in a warm embrace, taking both him and I off guard. There were no words, no guarantees of the future, just a warm hug for a friend in need. And that was all it took to make the tears flow.
I'd never seen Tyler shed so much as a single tear before, much less cry full out like this. But here I stood, watching as my best friend let out all of his pain. I walked over, standing opposite of where Naya was, and did the same as she did.
The few minutes of silence seemed like hours. The only noise in the air being Aaros's crying. Before long, his crying slowly died off before completely stopping.
"Thank you, both of you," Aaros said as he reached for his plate. "We'd better eat before Sar's delicious cooking gets cold."
Naya looked to me for approval as to whether or not he would be okay. With a soft nod, we both returned to our seats and said a small prayer for our friend before we ate our food. Aaros was right, this is the best dish I've made yet.
As we finished our food, we decided now was a good time as ever to go to sleep. As I walked over to my tent, I noticed Aaros standing right next to it.
"I just wanted to say thanks, bro. I don't like people seeing me like that, but I'm glad you two were there when it happened." Aaros said with an honest smile.
I didn't know what to say without it sounding strange, so I gave simple nod. That was enough for Aaros as he patted me on the shoulder and went to his tent.
I don't know why, but I suddenly felt like my entire world was about to be changed. Hopefully a good nights rest will make me feel better.
Thanks to Aaros's strict training, I've lately been waking up on my own around 06:30 AM. I had to in order to be fully awake when we started our morning exercise. Even as I emerged from my tent, I notice that Aaros had already packed up his tent and was practicing throwing his knife at a tree.
"Morning Sar, I hope you got enough rest." Aaros stated, back to his usual, serious self.
"With you as my teacher, I could get all the rest I wanted and still not be ready for this." I said as I equipped my armor.
"If you give me your all I won't complain," Aaros promised. "Same rules as always. The second one of us reaches yellow, we stop. You give me your all, and I will give you what I feel is reasonable."
Hefting my claymore from my back, I readied myself into a firm fighting stance. With a slight bend at my knees and my claymore above my head, pointed straight towards Aaros. Just like usual, Aaros stood cross armed as he stared straight into my eyes.
I didn't hesitate. With a strong kick, I flung myself towards Aaros with my blade leading the drive. As expected, Aaros crouched down to dodge. What I didn't expect was the butt of his blade impacting with my jaw. As I came to a stop, I turned on my heel so as not to give him the chance to come from behind.
This time he struck. Sending a volley of kicks straight at me as I took up a strong guard. Seeing an opening I swept my claymore in a quick upward sweep, landing my hit. But the blow didn't meet flesh. Instead he blocked it with his knife, sending his up into the air.
I finally thought I had gained the advantage, readying my blade to strike him on his way down. But then I felt a strong impact against my chest. Looking down, I noticed Aaros's dagger jutting from my chest. Luckily the armor took most of the damage. That's when I saw my mistake. I took my eyes off of Aaros.
Before I knew what was happening, Aaros was right in my face. With a devastating kick, he drove the knife further into me before delivering a final staggering punch as he pulled the knife back out and went for a finishing slash at my face. With quick reflexes, I blocked his knife with my claymore, ramming the hilt of my blade to the center of his chest.
Even though I hit him, he just bounced back and was back in my face before I could react. Feeling the impact of his blade against the crease in my shoulder, I watched my health drift into the yellow. Seeing this, I quickly let go of my weapon so as to indicate his victory.
"You're getting better," Aaros said with his hand stretched out to me. "With more practice, you'll eventually be able to keep up with me."
Gripping his hand, Aaros pulled me to my feet before giving me a health potion.
"Does this mean you were going all out this time?" I asked before chugging the potion.
"Sadly, no," Aaros replied. "Though I have the experience and the knowledge, the games stat system prevents me from doing anything beyond my current avatar limitations. With lots of work, I'll eventually be able to go all out."
"Maybe I should thank Kayaba for putting you on a leash," I said, chuckling at the angry looks I was now getting. "You know I'm kidding. We'll just need to keep practicing until we both become stronger."
"Are you two done yet?" Naya asked, emerging from her tent.
"Yeah, we're done. I just had to show Sar how much further he has before he can win your heart." Aaros said with a devious smirk.
The statement had his desired effect as Naya's face turned so red with embarrassment, she could probably blend in with the sky from day one.
Naya eventually blew off the embarrassing remark and instead opened her menu. "Well I just wanted to let you know, Aaros, that I finished the cloak you wanted me to make you. Took me a while to gather the materials, but I finally found enough to make it."
Accepting the trade request, a large, blood red cloak appeared in Aaros's hands. "This is awesome, Naya. Thank you."
Equipping the cloak, a large scarf with a hood appeared around Aaros's neck. With a long section of the cloak blowing in the wind, I noticed small rips and tatters along the length of the fabric.
"Naya, why is it all ripped and torn?" I asked.
Naya blushed at the statement. "Well, I'm not that skilled at weaving yet. The materials I gathered were to add additional stats to sneak and speed skills. But when I tried to make it, it came out like this. I'm sorry if you don't like it, Aaros. I can make another one if you want."
Lowering the hood from his head, Aaros gave a warm smile. "It's perfect, Naya. I like the way it looks and the stat boost is actually really good for your skill level."
You could have probably told Naya that she had just won the lottery and she probably wouldn't have looked as excited as she did now. I thought it looked adorable how happy that one compliment made her.
"I'm starting to feel a little jealous here, Naya. I'd like to have a cool accessory made just for me too." I said with a slight comedic whimper.
With a flustered expression on her face, she apologized over and over. "I'm really sorry, Sar! I can't believe I didn't think to make one for you! I mean, Aaros just thought it would be good practice and I didn't want to let him down is all! Please don't be upset with me!"
Both Aaros and I couldn't help but laugh as she turned many different shades of red. "It's okay, Naya. I was just joking. But I would like one some time. But maybe just a scarf. I'm not really digging the whole hood thing." I said, taking a shot at Aaros.
With a little puff at the cheeks, Aaros popped his hood over his head and went to take down the other two tents as Naya started asking if I would like any special stat boosts for the scarf.
Before long, it was time to continue on our way towards Tolbana. We're still a few hours away, so we decided to head out earlier than usual.
The hike across the plains was the same as yesterday, long and boring with intermittent training sessions. Tyler curbstomps me every time, too, which isn't really raising my confidence any.
But there was a bright side to the long, arduous hiking. While Naya and Aaros walked ahead of me, I would take the moment to observe my surroundings, listening and watching for the slightest bit of movement so as to increase my skills. I can expect that Aaros was doing the same, because hunting started to become easier as we progressed. Naya was happy since that meant she could eat more of my cooking, which made me especially happy.
"Sar, you can tell your friend to stop hiding now. I spotted her an hour ago." Aaros said.
"Wha- Who are you talking about?" I asked, looking in all directions for who he was referring too.
That's when I heard a slight rustle in the trees. A very faint noise, certainly one that could be easily overlooked. Looking straight above me, that's when I noticed a small, feminine face with distinct painted-on whiskers. "Argo? What are you doing here?"
"Crap. I didn't think your detection skill would be so high," She said, amazed and aggravated at the same time.
Before I knew it, Argo lept from the tree and landed right between Naya and I, barely making a sound upon landing. She stood there, and noticed the three of us staring at her, shrugging her shoulders.
"Believe it or not, the four of us are the closest to Tolbana right now. The only reason I'm here, is because I've been riding on your coat tails the whole way." Argo took a lock of her light brown hair in her fingers and started twirling it, nonchalant about the whole thing.
"The whole way?" Aaros asked, mildly impressed. "I'll need to get better at my detection skill then."
Argo gave a pleasant grin at knowing she had some competition. "Better catch up fast then. By the way, love the cloak. Where did you find it?"
At this, Naya's face lit up with glee, and she spoke up, "I made it!" She said, a little over enthusiastic, making herself blush at the sudden outburst.
Argo smiled and winked at her. "Might commission one for myself. Who knows?"
Naya smiled again and started to fidget a little. I felt as though she'd probably explode with excitement if it weren't for her shyness.
"Well, Argo, if you'd like to accompany us on our travels, I don't see any reason to deny you that." Aaros stated.
Argo seemed to contemplate the offer for a moment before speaking up again. "And who says you're the one who should make that call? I think Sartarus here is the one who should be calling the shots," She said with a mischievous grin.
"Really now?" Aaros asked, with an equally mischievous look in his eyes. "Alright then. Sar, you lead the rest of the way. I could use the rest."
"Damnit, Argo." I let out under my breath, swiping down and pulling up my map. "Why do you always seem to get me into these kinds of situations?"
"It's just so much fun. You know you'd be bored if I didn't." Argo replied with a high five to Aaros.
After a few moments of looking at the map, I felt like the biggest idiot alive. Noticing the looks on Argo's and Aaros's faces, I could tell they already knew where we were. Even Naya was already looking in the right direction.
"According to the map, It's right in front of us." I said, sadly noticing the distant buildings for the first time.
"See, Sartarus is a master at navigation. Thanks Sar-kun!" Argo said as she and Aaros made their way towards the town, laughing and talking the whole way.
"I don't think I've ever seen Aaros be that cheerful with someone other than us." Naya said, giving a slight tug at my sleeve.
As I watched the two rogues walk off, I couldn't help but feel stupid for not noticing it before. "That's because Argo acts exactly like his daughter back in the real world."
Naya did a double take as I followed after Argo and Aaros. "He has a daughter?!"