9

December 2, 2022

Floor 1, Trevica

"I know you're pissed at me," Israel said beside him as they walked. "So you might as well tell me why."

Jae shook his head without turning. "I'm not pissed, dude."

"Yeah, that's bullshit."

By his tone, Jae could tell that Israel was annoyed, though he was doing his best to cover it up.

After Naomi left, the two of them had walked with Tristan back to the center of Trevica, where the town Portal stood. A ruinous, vine covered stone archway located at the main intersection in the center of town, the Portal itself was nothing compared to the one in the plaza at the Town of Beginnings. Before leaving, Tristan made them both promise to visit his shop sooner rather than later. Though in reality Jae had been angry since Naomi told him about the meeting, he had tried his best to let it go. For a while it seemed like Israel hadn't noticed, but now it was obvious he had just been waiting for them to be alone.

"I said I'm not pissed," Jae repeated, louder this time. "Just leave it alone."

Israel continued looking ahead, but Jae could practically feel him roll his eyes.

"I would, but I know you too well for that."

Jae didn't respond. Reaching the inn, he put his hand on their door. Before he could open it, Israel pushed him away. His irritation mounting, Jae faced him.

"What the hell was that?"

Israel met his look with that smug glare he tended to put on whenever he felt like he was in the right. "Look man, you need to tell me what's up. I know how this little story ends, every time. You never talk about what's pissing you off but you don't let it go either. So you end up just sulking around hating everything until someone finally gets you to snap." Israel paused, rubbing his eyes as he leaned against the door. Jae knew what what meant. Israel had been about to say something that even he realized would sound too fucked up, so instead he had played it off. "Look," he continued, "We don't have time for this. If this is about me and Naomi eating breakfast-"

Jae exploded. "I don't give a fuck who you eat breakfast with! God, do you really think that's what I'm pissed about?" He laughed bitterly. "You're something else man, you know that?"

He could see the rage build in Israel's eyes like flames dancing in a hearth. If there was one thing his brother was bad at, it was handling being yelled at. In the back of Jae's mind, a memory suddenly forced itself into his thoughts for the briefest of seconds.

"Step out of the car please." The cop said bluntly.

Israel met the officer's gaze through the car window with an annoyed look. "Why? We haven't done anything."

Sitting in the back seat next to Israel, Jae quickly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Dude, " Jae whispered. "That's a fucking cop."

Staring defiantly at the cop, Israel didn't seem to notice.

"Look kid," the big man said angrily from behind his sunglasses. "You better watch how you talk to me. Now get out of the car."

Israel lifted a hand in confusion. "All I did was ask why. What have we done?"

In the driver's seat, Heaven put a hand to her head as she sighed in exasperation at her little brother.

In an attempt to draw the officer's attention away from Israel, Jae made to open his car door. Before he had even reached the lever, however, Israel again spoke up.

"I mean seriously, do you even have a single reason for pulling up on us?Or were you just bored as you sat there in your car doing nothing?"

Forming his beefy right hand into a fist, the cop rested it on the hood of the car as he leaned into the car window until he was less than a few inches from Israel's face.

Israel didn't even blink.

"Alright, smart ass." The officer said through gritted teeth. "Here's what's about to happen." His voice began to grow louder. "I'm going to ask you to step out of that car one more time. Very politely, you're going to do what I say. From that point on, every time I address you, you're going to respond with either 'no, sir,' or 'yes,sir!'" He was practically screaming at this point. "Now get out of the car!"

Looking at his brother's face, Jae could see pure rage in his eyes, like flames dancing in a hearth. That was all he needed to know that Israel was about to explode.

Grabbing Israel before he could say anything else, Jae forced him to pay attention as he spoke. "Brother, calm down."

Then, as quickly as it had come, the memory was gone.

"Alright then asshole!" Israel shouted. "Since I'm obviously too stupid to understand, why don't you explain to me what the hell your problem actually is? I'm over here trying to help you feel better and you just insist on acting like a fucking girl in the middle of her period."

Slamming the door into their room closed, Jae met Israel's glare.

"I'll tell you what my problem is. You deliberately left instead of waking me up this morning because you knew what time the meeting was! You knew how serious I was about going, but you didn't agree with me, so naturally you just assume you're the one in the right, like always! I was oversleeping, you saw your out, and you took it without giving a damn about what I believe to be the right choice!"

Israel looked dumbfounded. "Are you being serious right now? What even gave you that idea? Why would you think that?"

"Because that's the way you are." Jae forced himself to calm down. He hadn't meant to start yelling, but Israel always managed to find a way to push the issue.

When Israel didn't answer, instead crossing his arms expectedly, Jae continued.

"You always do this. You always think you're right. If someone has a different opinion, than to you they're just wrong, no questions asked. That's what I'm angry about…" He hesitated, closing his eyes for a moment before adding, "And the fact that you're keeping something from me."

Meeting Israel's gaze, Jae waited to see what he would say.

"Listen," Israel began, "Now that you've explained it to me, I get the misunderstanding here. Obviously we both feel pretty strongly about what course we should take, but just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I think I'm right. I've been more unsure of myself this past month than I have our entire lives." He paused. "But I have no idea where you came up with me keeping things from you."

Jae lifted a hand, pointing at Israel as he replied. "Don't insult me. I know there's something you're hiding. Every time we level up, you don't open your menu to apply the stats. Same with when we got our second skill slot. You never even mentioned what you decided on to me when we agreed on how I should get Detection-"

"That's not true." Israel interrupted. "I told you I wasn't sure what I should get, and later I figured it would be smarter to wait until we knew more about the extra skills. We don't know if getting to a particular floor or beating a certain quest will give us some free skill or power that negates what we got early game. There's no respecing here man, and we can't afford a mistake like that."

Jae hesitated as he considered his brother's words. What he was saying made sense. On top of that, it was true how unsure Israel tended to be with making character choices in RPGs.

"And I promise you," Israel continued, sincerity lacing his words, "I did not know what time the meeting was, and neither did Naomi. We woke up and figured you'd want to sleep in." He smiled jokingly as he added, "I swear I've never gotten so much backlash for trying to be fucking nice."

Jae narrowed his gaze as he gave Israel a final look. "I want your word."

Israel blinked. "My word?"

Jae gave one solemn nod. "I want your word as my brother that you didn't know about the meeting, and that you're not keeping anything from me. God knows we can't afford to keep secrets from each other. Not anymore."

Israel rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand as he looked down the cobbled street.

Jae stood still as stone as he waited. Around them the wind picked up, scattering dust and dirt further down the road leading back to the town's entrance. In the distance, Jae could hear the sound of Norran's hammer being brought down on his anvil.

Israel looked back at Jae. He looked hurt, as if Jae's request had been offensive.

"I don't know why you're having such a hard time trusting me, man. But if it will settle things between us, then I give you my word as your brother that I'm not lying to you. Not about the meeting, and not about keeping anything from you. Alright?"

Relieved, Jae smiled apologetically. "Alright. Thanks man."

Reaching for the door latch, Israel was about to walk in when Jae said, "Hey man look, I'm really sorry I doubted you. I guess…" He scrambled for the right words, "I guess I'm just getting too worked up. This whole month I've been stressed to hell and my nerves have just been getting to me." He looked down at his leather boots. "This damn game is driving me crazy. Just forget this whole thing, ok? I won't lose my shit again, I promise."

Looking back up, Jae could see that Israel was also looking away.

"Listen," Israel said, running a hand through his long blonde hair as he sighed. "I say we go try to join the Boss raid, once Naomi tells you when it goes down."

Jae's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You're sure?" He furrowed his brow suspiciously. "What changed your mind?"

Israel shrugged. "I've been giving it some thought, and while I still think we should be looking after the weak players wherever we can find them, I also think that anything could happen with this Boss fight. The only players who know anything about the Floor Bosses are the beta testers, and they're no longer a reliable source." He looked at Jae, determination burning in his blue eyes. "Strongest players or not, they don't know what they're up against. It could get bad. I wouldn't forgive myself if we found out that some of them died. Besides," he added jokingly, "We could get some kick ass drops. And you know how far I'll go for a legendary item."

Jae chuckled. "Almost as far as me." He rubbed his palms together excitedly. "Alright, so now we wait for Naomi to give us an update. As soon we know where the raid group is heading, we leave. How much Col did you get from that battle with Naomi?"

Israel scoffed at the question. "Not even a hundred. They didn't drop a single item either. I did get to level ten though, so I guess I shouldn't complain." He opened the door and stepped into the room. "Why, what's your plan?" He asked over his shoulder as he headed for the table.

Following him in, Jae closed the door behind them. "If we're going to do this, we need to prepare. We need to repair our gear, see if Norran has anything new today, and stock up on more health crystals." He sat down opposite Israel. "I would say teleport crystals too, but one each is really all we need."

Israel suddenly brought up a hand. "About that."

Jae winced. "What is it now?"

"I used my teleport crystal to get Tristan's ass to safety-it was the only choice I could make." he added quickly.

Sighing, Jae started running the math as best he could. "Alright, no problem. We'll just have to forget the seeing Norran part."

"I'll message Tristan and see where his shop's at." Israel said. "If it's close, we can take him up on his offer and get most of what we need from him."

"If he's even got anything." Jae muttered. "He didn't look too loaded from where I was standing. Not to mention he got his ass handed to him by those plant mobs, if we go by what you saw."

Israel grinned. "Yeah, but I can't complain about that. If anything, it just made me look that much more impressive to Naomi when I saved him."

Jae propped his elbow onto the table, putting his head in his hand as he gave Israel a smug look. "You say that, but if I remember correctly it was I who got the friend request. It's looking like Jae's going to get the girl instead of Israel."

Israel burst in a fit of uncontrollable laughter as he pulled up his menu.

"I'm gonna be honest," Jae said as Israel swiped through several screens. "I was expecting a somewhat different reaction."

Reaching his Friend List, Israel pointed casually at Naomi's name as he wiped his eyes. "Bro, she friended me right after we fought those plant things together. Our bodies were pressed against each other as we cut down-"

Jae closed his eyes, lifting his hand in desperation. "I don't need to hear your dramatized fantasies. I get it, she friended you too. All that means is we both still have an equal shot."

Israel slapped his knee as he laughed again. "Oh if only, my dear brother, if only." He scratched his morning shadow of a beard. "How do I put this? She friended damsel in distress Tristan before you. That makes you the last one. You know what that means right?"

Jae dropped his head down onto the table. The Immortal Object sign appeared above it, as if reminding Jae not to bother wasting his energy.

"I'm the Pity Friend." He said miserably, his words muffled by the table as he lay there.

Extending an arm, Israel began patting Jae's shoulder sympathetically.

"You're the Pity Friend." He repeated solemnly.

Acrobatics is the secondary skill you should choose. Have you thought of what to put in your third skill slot yet?

Israel read the message briefly, then looked up. Ahead of him, Jae was talking with Diabel, the leader of the forty man raid party. It was dark, but the town of Tolbana was well lit and in good repair, unlike the poor village of Trevica.

Several hours after leaving to go help her friend, Naomi had messaged Jae the details of what transpired at the meeting. Once Diabel and the rest of the players had prepared their strategy and divided themselves into squads, they had decided on meeting back in Tolbana's courtyard at ten a.m. the next morning. In the hours that followed, most of the raid group scattered to prepare themselves as best they could, but a few, including Diabel, remained.

After buying another teleport crystal and repairing their gear, Israel and Jae had divided up their health crystals and quickly made for Tolbana via the Portal in the center of town. Once there, it had taken them some time to find Diabel in the large, bustling town. Apart from introductions, Israel let Jae do the talking since this was more less his idea. Happy to include them in the raid group, Diabel nonetheless expressed concern about their levels. All between levels 12 and 14, the raid party was well ahead of Israel, who had just reached level 10 that morning, and Jae who was still level 9.

Upon hearing Diabel's doubts, Israel had brandished Silverthorne, asking if anyone else had acquired a super rare weapon yet.

"On top of that," Jae had said, "And no offense, but my brother and I have been training with swords and spears in the real world long before SAO. Our levels may not be as high, but we can probably fight better than several of the players in your group."

Diabel agreed, under the condition that they recognize him as the leader for the duration of the raid.

"It's essential that we maintain a command system." He had explained, somewhat apologetically. "I'm the leader of a couple guilds in other RPG's. Large raid parties like this only work if everyone does their assigned job and listens to the squad and party leaders."

Dubbed Squad G, Israel and Jae were assigned to be the party's scouts as they traversed the Labyrinth, keeping an eye out for large mob groups, traps, and anything different or out of place from the beta tester guidebook.

"Once we reach the Boss room," Diabel continued, "we will obviously have no more need for scouts, so you will work with Squads E and F to keep the Boss's minions at bay while the tank and damage dealing squads handle Ulfang the Cobalt Lord himself."

With their jobs assigned and a pre-fight celebration going on in the rest of town, Jae had said he wanted to mingle and get to know the other players better, but Israel had a feeling he was just after the free food. It was then that Israel received Naomi's message.

Typing his reply, Israel was quickly irritated by the game's keyboard mechanic. Why are the letters so damn small?

I appreciate it, but why Acrobatics? And no, not yet.

Sending the message, Israel sat down on a bench by one of the street lights. Looking around, it came as no surprise to him why the strongest players stayed at Tolbana. Being the highest levels, they no doubt had the most money, and so could afford the luxuries offered there. The streets were smooth and paved, and each building was so white the whole town looked to have been fashioned from marble. Everywhere, trees and flowers adorned the streets.

Another message icon suddenly appeared in his menu. As he opened the message, he could hear Jae laughing from the other side of the courtyard.

The way you were fighting today, it looked to me like your style relies on speed and finesse more than power or strength. Yet for some reason you've neglected putting any attribute points in agility. Acrobatics would make up for that, and reinforce the way you fight. That's what you said you wanted, right? Acrobatics helps dodge chance, reflex, and manoeuvrability. That's the one you want. As for your third one, I'm sure you can figure it out now that you know there's no need to be worried about it being wasted.

Before he finished reading the message, a new one appeared

Will you two be joining the raid party tomorrow?

Annoyed by the reminder that she knew about his stats, Israel was still grateful for her help. Scrolling through the skill lists, Israel selected Acrobatics. With another tap, he applied it to his skills slot. Checking his stats, he saw that his dodge chance had now jumped to 10%.

Looks like i'm back to owing you for your help. That means I'm going to need to see you again. I thought I'd see you here in Tolbana. But yeah, we're with the raid party now. You know, you still haven't told me how you know about my stats.

Looking up from the screen, Israel saw Jae walking towards him with a full tray of food. Standing from the bench, Israel was about to close his menu when another message appeared.

Don't die tomorrow.