Chapter 8
Asada's POV
The sun was shining through the window. It was an early morning light, one that is often associated with dawn and sunny weekend days. I don't know what woke me up. Whether it was the sun spilling in the window, or the warmth under me. Wait, what? I opened my eyes slowly. Only to find that I was on top of Kazuto, in a rather… umm… compromising position.
I must have latched onto him in my sleep, and somehow wound up crawling on top of him. I didn't know what to do. If I moved and he woke up it could make the situation worse, but if I didn't move and he woke up, it would probably end the same way. On top of that, my face was on fire. If I wasn't completely awake before I sure was now.
I was torn between the two. Lay on top of him until he wakes up and deal with the outcome, or try to get off of him, and risk waking him up. I mentally debated. Well at least if I try to get off him, there's a chance that I'll get out unscathed. It was settled. I was going to try to get off him, without waking him up.
I started to reposition my arms on the bed, to push myself up. I just wasn't expecting my arm to still be asleep. In the end I wound up with my face mere centimeters away from his. His face is so close to mine. His lips are so close to mine. Maybe I could just… I shook my head. That would be wrong. It would be taking advantage of him.
I tried to push myself up again. This time my arms held. I started to move, only to encounter another problem. When I was almost clear of him, he reached out with both arms and grabbed me. It wasn't fast, or sudden, it was lazy and slow. That still didn't stop me from being stuck in his grasp. My face had to be melting. It definitely felt hot enough.
Screw it. I thought. If every time I try to get out of it, something happens, then I'm just gonna wait until he wakes up. Besides, it's not like it's the end of the world. It actually feels nice to be this close to him. Now if Only I could tell him how I feel. I was thinking a lot this morning. There wasn't exactly much more to do. Especially when I'm pinned down here with Kazuto holding me.
Unfortunately it didn't take long after my decision to just lay there, for Kazuto to wake up. He opened his eyes slowly. He looked at me, and I looked at him. We both blinked a few times, then he exploded.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry Asada! I wasn't in control of my actions, I swear!" He screamed his apology, while jumping from the bed, releasing me from his grasp.
I sat up, and looked at him. My face may have been red, but I smiled despite myself. "It's fine Kazuto. Really it is."
With this assurance he seemed to calm down quite a bit, but just a bit.
"You sure?" He asked. "I mean, I know that you're uncomfortable around people, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me. So if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, anything at all, just ask."
My face was probably red from the entire scenario playing out, so it might have looked like I was embarrassed or upset. Truth be told, I was a little embarrassed, but I wasn't upset in the slightest. In fact part missed the closeness. I just wish he'd hold me like then when he's conscious. I thought.
He still looked kind of upset, and that's when I got an idea. "Kazuto, I'm not sure if there's any way for you to make up for this." I stated. I had put on a mask of sadness, and resentment. It wasn't real of course, but he doesn't know that.
The look that his face developed, more or less, looked like someone had tore his heart out and stomped on it. It almost made me stop and re-think this prank. Almost.
"Asada, I'll do anything, just please forgive me!" His face was just too adorable. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst into laughter.
His face went from worried, to confused, to realization, and then into a pout. "You were just messing with me?" He asked in the most pouty voice I had ever heard.
"Of course." I said. My laughter had faded to a small giggle. "I told you it was alright. I just thought it would be funny to mess with you."
"Well It wasn't."
"Oh I don't know, it was pretty funny."
"Was not!" His argument made him sound like a child in denial. Then again, I guess he kind of was.
"Whatever you say." I said passively, and through a huge grin.
"Come one Asada!" He whined. "Stop giving me a hard time!"
Eventually, after a bit more teasing on my part, we decided to leave the room and get something to eat. The game not only simulated fatigue, but also hunger, as well as some degree of pain. I just hope that it isn't more than in the beta. Since technically it was now a death game, it would stand to reason that you would feel a lot more pain, and it would be a lot more realistic. I don't intend to find out though.
Lucky for us, the inn was near the town market. There, we could use the COL we had gotten from drops. The markets always have some kind of food, and in any town, there is always a special "delicacy." In the the town of beginnings it's a special bread, and here, it's a fruit that you can also get from monster in the nearby forest.
We got to the market, needless to say, bought food for our hungry stomachs. I may have gotten a little carried away though. I bought a lot more that waht we needed, and stored it all in my inventory. When Kazuto asked me what I was doing. My only response was: "Stalking up on food." He didn't question me again. Go figure, he loves his food.
"You know, while we're here, we should by some better weapons and armour. We can get better stuff from quests, but I'm not risking your life or mine. So let's get some gear, so that we can get new gear." Kazuto said as we passed a smith shop.
"You're right. If we have better gear, then it will be a lot easier to complete the quests." I agreed.
"Yeah, and besides, the gear we have on is like a login bonus. It's stats are really low, and doesn't have any special use. Just about anything would be better than what we have."
I just nodded, and veered off toward the smith shop. Kazuto followed close behind. We walked into the store, and an NPC came from the back room to greet up.
"Welcome to my shop. Please, look around. Tell me if you see something you like."
We both split walked in opposite directions. The shop was in no way small. It was jam packed with swords and other weapons. Splitting up was the only way that I could think to find anything useful. I passed longswords, rapiers, and other sword styles, as well as other weapons like hammers axes and spears. For a game called Sword Art Online, there sure are a lot of other weapons. These aren't even all the weapons included in the game. I've seen way cooler weapons on floor eight. I thought.
I continued my browsing. I wanted to pick a weapon that had good stats, but at the same time, I wanted a weapon that worked for me, and the kind of build I wanted. Back when the beta started, I tried to imitate Kazuto's one handed longsword technique. I liked the swords, but I couldn't help but wonder, Is there something that would fit me better? After that I started thinking about how I'd spend my skill points when the game real game launched, and took to finding the best weapon for me. Broadswords were too heavy, and axes and hammers were just too slow. The closest thing I found to a weapon for me was a rapier, and the longsword. If I didn't find another weapon here, I was just going to buy one of the two.
A glint caught my eye. I turned in the direction that the reflection of metal came from. There was a long sword. Unlike all the other blades lying around the shop, this one was in a display case. On top of being a long sword, it was a longsword. It was a beautiful sword. The blade narrowed from the hilt to the tip. Not so much as to look like a rapier. The blade was too thick for that anyway, but it narrowed just enough for the final angles of the blade to be a fine point. It would be effective as a stabbing and sliding weapon. On top of that, was made up of a ring of silver thorn vines, which spiraled inward toward the handle and wrapped around it. The final aesthetic bit of the sword was the small rose that rested on the pommel. That one! I thought excitedly.
I opened the display case, and opened the item's stats window. "Beautiful Thorn" It read. Range: Short, Type: Slash, Attack: 100-120, Durability: 750, Weight: 90, Requires: 5.
Personally I was surprised a weapon like this was even in this shop to begin with. It was very strong for a level five sword, NPC shops almost never have anything worth while. I walked back to the counter, where the NPC stood, waiting for us to make a purchase. Kazuto was already up there buying a sword. It looked pretty simple, not much better than the starter sword.
I walked up behind him, and the NPC dialogue activated again. "Find something you like?"
"Yes. I'd like to buy this sword please." I said. From the looks of it Kazuto had already bought his, because the system let him sheath it.
"Very well, that will be five hundred COL."
Oh wow. I had no idea it was that expensive. I should have checked the price before I got excited. Nonetheless, a confirmation screen popped up, giving me my current balance, and what it will be after the purchase. I would be nearly flat out broke, but I needed a weapon, and I can always get more COL.
I accepted the purchase prompt, and the NPC smiled. "Thank you. Come again."
Kazuto and I turned around and walked from the smith shop. I opened my inventory and equipped a scabbard. I sheathed my new weapon, and looked at Kazto.
"So why did you buy a sword that's just as bad as the starting sword?" I asked. It had been bugging me.
"Simple." He said enigmatically. Then a grin emerged on his face. "We're gonna get the Anneal Blade."
That was an ambitious plan. The Anneal Blade was an extremely hard item to get. You have to go through a quest to collect medicinal herbs from monsters, and the drop rate is incredibly small.
"You really want to take that risk?" I asked. "I mean, I know the stats are incredibly overpowered for the level it's at, but the forest is filled with dangerous monsters, and there are no safe zones." I was really worried that if he, or I went in we might not come back out. Even if we went in together, the monster there are at a freakishly high level.
"Yeah. We got it in the beta didn't we?" He sounded so sure, but the same couldn't be said for me.
"Yes, but we also died several times. We could die again, and this time. We'd stay dead."
It was freaking me out how calmly I could make that statement. It just didn't feel real. I had accepted that it's true, and that we could die, but on some level, I think that I was in denial.
My statement seemed to have caught him off guard. "We did?"
"Yeah, like ten times."
"Oh…" He mumbled. "Well I guess we'll just have to be extra careful."
"Can we at least level up a bit before we try something like that?"
"Yeah. We'll try for it in a few day." He was smiling at first, then it quickly turned to a deep frown.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. I just realized," He started. "I really did buy this sword for nothing!"
It took several days, but we finally reached level twelve. We both decided that today would be the day that we quested for the Anneal Blade. I was nervous to say the least. If we die, it's all over. I thought. No ! I refuse to let myself die. I'm gonna make it out of this game. Kazuto and I both! I would make sure he got out, even if it killed me.
"You ready to go? Got all you gear ready?" Kazuto asked from the doorway.
"Yeah. Let's go."
With that we both walked from the inn. We headed for the forest. We reached the edge. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. I probably shouldn't, but I'll write it off as nervous jitters.
A/N: I don't intend to give the Anneal Blade quest to much focus. I've seen it done too many times. However, I am going to alter the way it's completed, and I'm going to use it to set up a scene in the next chapter. Hope you like where I'm going.
