Sorry for the wait (it's even worse on my main story), I got distracted by other means of entertainment. Video games and reading and such. I can't promise it won't happen again. Sorry?
I'm having trouble figuring out what to do in the early chapters without skipping straight to episode two. The pacing was one of SAO's biggest flaws. I don't have any illusions that I'll be able to fix that, but I don't want to do any time skips for the first few dreams to get all the surprise dream mechanics out of the way. That, and I can't have Nanakyou (Kyounako?) suddenly be super close with Kirito at the end of the month without showing how they got that way first. But that means I have to come up with stuff that happens in the meantime.
As expected, I did get some average-to-negative feedback on the whole gender confusion thing. Sorry folks, but that's here to stay. It's weird, yes, but it's also one of the things I was looking forward to when making this story. It's not supposed to be a huge focus—much like a dream, it's supposed to be a "shrug and move on" type of deal. It will become more normal as the story goes on, I hope.
Chapter 8: The Inn
Kirito got a room at the inn once we were back in Horunka, but I wasn't that tired. It would be a better use of my time to go level grinding to catch up with Kirito, who had an extra day on me. Unfortunately, after spending the day doing just that, that didn't sound too interesting either. Who really cared about what level I was? This was all temporary. There was more to experience in SAO than just sleeping and grinding.
I decided to stay in the inn's restaurant and order some food. Of course, the only thing unlocked at this early level was bread, which I'd heard…somewhere…wasn't that good, but it was worth trying. Then I could take the time to go through my inventory and skills and things to see what I'd done as Nanako. Those memories were a little fuzzy.
The waitress NPC brought my food promptly. I looked at my food with disappointment; it didn't even look good. I thanked the waitress anyway and she went on her way. Munching on the sad excuse for nutrients, I duly opened my menu to organize my inventory and review my stats.
My stats were focused on speed and defense, leaving attack and health to increase with level rather than skill points. Alright, I could deal with that. The lack of attack would be a nuisance, and defense wasn't really my style, but I could see why I would choose such a combination in a death game. This way, I could take hits that Kirito couldn't, while avoiding anything else that came my way. Kirito could make up for my missing attack. Soloing like this (not that I planned on it) would make for long, drawn-out battles, but would still be manageable if I played my cards right.
If I played my cards right? What was this, Yu-Gi-Oh?
What was Yu-Gi-Oh anyway? Meh. Probably something from the real world I couldn't remember. A card game, apparently. It wasn't important.
The skills I had chosen were One-Handed Sword and Battle Healing, which seemed like a given. I wouldn't need Searching as long as I stuck with Kirito, and Battle Healing would become extremely OP once I trained it up enough. Acrobatics were be good for dodging and Sprint would be good for going place to place before teleport crystals became an option, but I'd have to wait until more skill slots were available.
Which left my inventory. I'd have to ask Kirito about what mats would be useful and what items were better off selling before I could do anything about that.
With my bread eaten and my menu no longer holding anything of interest, I rested my face on the table. The long day of grinding was catching up with me, and it was likely to be another long day tomorrow. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to rest my eyes…
Of course, that's what they all say, isn't it?
I woke up from my impromptu nap to discover I was no longer alone in the booth. Kirito occupied the previously empty bench across from me, looking out the now brightly-lit window in boredom.
"Morning, Kirito," I mumbled.
"Hm?" Kirito glanced at me without turning away from the window. "Oh, you're awake. I was worried you were going to sleep all day."
"Couldn't wake me up?" I was kind of notorious for that, but didn't think it would transfer to SAO.
"Players don't respond to outside stimuli when they're asleep," He explained. "They either have to wake up on their own or set a personal alarm."
"Oh. Sorry then." I hadn't meant to fall asleep in the first place, so of course I hadn't set an alarm.
Something tickled at the back of my mind, the many ways something like not waking up could be dangerous, but I pushed it away. I was awake now, and that's all that mattered. I'd be more careful in the future.
"Are we heading out then?" I was eager to get a move on. If I truly was dreaming, then who knew how long I had in this game before I woke up.
"Now that you're awake, yes. Need anything before we leave?"
"Nope."
A/N: Sorry for the short short chapter. That's just the way it is, unfortunately. I figured I could either stay stuck here, or end the chapter and move on to other things.
My other story, (if you have the misfortune of reading both of them), Playing by Ear, may or may not be updating soon. I haven't forgotten about it; I just haven't been keeping up with it like I should. I've got a good bit of the next chapter written but there's still other things to write before I can post it.
I was really debating skipping to the first boss fight, but hell if I'm going to take the coward's way out. I just need to figure out how to make stuff up and decide how much creative license I'm going to be using to describe the game. I pretty much only know what I've seen in the anime and read in fanfiction. So games and manga, where SAO is described in more detail, are mysteries to me. I may get things wrong. That, or I may deliberately change them for convenience or plot. Point them out if you wish, but don't feel obligated I guess?
