"I don't get why we're coming here," Marika asked, looking all around the city that they had visited on the 50th floor.
"I need to visit someone," Masaya responded simply.
Marika raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
Masaya smirked, turning a corner into an alleyway. "You'll see."
Finally, Masaya stopped just in front of a merchant store, where they had arrived just in time to witness a person be thrown out with extreme prejudice.
"And stay out!" a rough voice exclaimed from inside. The player picked himself up, grumbling darkly, and stomped away, leaving the doorway free for Masaya and Marika to step inside.
"I see that your methods haven't changed much," Masaya said good-humouredly to the back of a person, who was bent over behind the counter.
"Masako? Is that you, man?" the person behind the counter said, standing up straight and turning around. The person was a dark-skinned, bald man with a goatee, who had a large and powerful build. However, Masako, Kirito, and anyone else that got to know the man would know he wouldn't hurt a fly… unless it bit him.
"Yeah. How's it going, Agil?" Masaya responded as he walked into the man's shop, with Marika trailing right behind him (read, hiding behind him). Not that it did her any good.
"Hey, you have an extra shadow there?" Agil chuckled, giving the blonde girl an easy smile.
Marika yelped, hiding behind Masaya even further. Her makeshift barrier chuckled alongside the dark man.
"Fleur, come on," Masaya said, grabbing her arm and lightly pulling her to his side, where she squirmed. "He doesn't bite, trust me."
"And who's this?" Agil asked Masaya.
"This is Fleur," Masaya introduced. "Fleur, this is Agil, a good friend of mine and a merchant."
"Salutations," Marika greeted him properly, bowing.
"Pleasure to meet you," Agil responded, bowing in response, though his was a little awkward.
"Alright, pleasantries aside," Masaya spoke up, "I came here for a reason, Agil. Any word on what I asked you?"
Agil immediately became serious as well. "Yeah, I have the info. The quest you're looking for is on the 55th floor. It's in the rocky, mountainous region to the north of the village the teleport gate leaves you at. Talk to the village leader and tell him you're there to hunt down his village's problem. Once you start the quest, you'll be locked into it until you're done, so you better prepare."
"I'll make sure," Masaya nodded, opening up his menu.
"Can I ask why you're asking this of me and not, say, Argo?" Agil asked as he accepted the trade of Col that Masaya had initiated.
The brunet sighed at the question. "I would ask her, but… I haven't heard from her in the last week, and she's not answering my messages. I was thinking that after I finish this quest, I'd go track her down and see what's going on."
"Oh, you as well?" Marika suddenly spoke up, grabbing both Masaya's and Agil's attention. "I have tried to message her, but she hasn't answered me either."
Masaya's brows contracted. "That's pretty worrying… But one thing at a time. Thanks for the info, Agil. See you around."
"Same, Masako. Take care out there," Agil responded, raising a hand. "Oh, and are we still on for next week at Yusuke's?"
"You know it!"
When they were outside, Marika finally asked, "Masaya-kun, what quest are you planning to do?"
Masaya looked at her and smiled. "A very special one. You're aware of how I typically fight, right?"
"Yes, you're an extremely agile fighter," Marika responded as they walked back to the teleport gate. "You also use stealth and indirect tactics when battling."
"That's all true, but there one more part that you're forgetting."
'Will you accept this quest?'
Masaya easily pressed the acceptance button, whereupon there was a flash of light all around the area he was standing at. He and Marika were currently at one of the rocky mountain peaks that Agil had spoken to him about, an area surrounded with rocks, some strange purple crystals, rocks, some pitfalls, and, oh look, more rocks. The quest he was accepting had popped up only a few days ago, and the NPC that gave the quest always explained what the player would fight before asking. For this reason, only one person had accepted it, and he had ended up dead because he believed himself strong enough to take on the enemy that he had little intel on.
Masaya had taken all the steps necessary. He had asked Agil to get as much information on the floor and village he would be visiting, and while his friend did that, he bought several books in one of the bookstores that had appeared on the 22nd floor, thankfully not too far from their house. It held just enough information for him to understand the type of monster he was fighting.
"So… what do we do now?" Marika asked, looking all around the rocky peak.
"Now, we wait," Masaya stated. "If I remember right, the monster we're hunting appears at certain points during the day, and only at the very peak of the mountain. Well, we're here."
"If you don't mind me asking, Masaya-kun, what monster are we looking for?" Marika asked, drawing her rapier and holding it loosely.
"I never told you?" When Marika shook her head, Masaya sighed. "Well, it's-."
An extremely powerful roar cut off their talk, drawing their attention to one of the pitfalls around the area. A glow could be seen coming from one of the inside of it, and a moment later, a figure that seemed larger than both players flew out at such a fast speed that Marika could hardly follow it. The figure seemed to fly around the area momentarily before angling towards the ground swiftly and slamming against the earth. Masaya and Marika crossed their arms in front of their faces out of reflex due to the dust that was kicked up, and when it settled and they could see again, the blonde woman was left gaping at the enemy that was glaring at them.
It had a long, serpentine body, with large, white scales that reflected the scant light the sun gave off from between the clouds above. It had four powerful limbs which ended in long claws. Its face was elongated, its jaw powerful, and its eyes large and imposing. And though it had no wings, the pair of players knew just what it was.
"It's… a dragon…" Marika whispered.
"Yep," Masaya responded. "One of several powerful dragon kin, according to a mythology book back at home. This one is known as the Gyo, a type of mountain dragon from Korean mythology. It's been terrorizing the village we just came from, and it's up to us to take it down."
"But… how? It looks strong enough to crush us!" Marika exclaimed, stepping back just as the dragon took a step forward.
"I'm going to fight it. I need you to stand back, Marika-san," Masaya stated, stepping forward and keeping his gaze locked onto the dragon's own.
"Are you crazy?!" Marika exclaimed, jumping forward and grabbing his arm. She flinched as the dragon growled and tensed, but didn't release Masaya. "You plan to fight this thing alone?!"
"Well, yes," Masaya responded, giving her a side look. "I have the means to fight it, and I'm doing so for a reason. Now step back."
She glared at Masaya, hoping to make him back down by her gaze alone, but the brunet didn't waver. Instead, he shook off her hand and continued to walk towards the dragon, which focused on him. She stared at his retreating back, waiting for him to draw his blade, but to her surprise, he never did.
The dragon suddenly raised its snout up to the skies and roared, whereupon three health bars appeared around its head. Just above it, a name appeared.
The Rock Mountain Dragon
Level 82
"They're on equal levels," Marika whispered, looking between the dragon and her boyfriend with apprehension.
The adversaries stared at each other.
Then, just behind them, there was the sound of a rock falling to the ground.
As if that had been the sound of a starting gun, the dragon rushed towards Masaya, its speed unbefitting of its size. Before Marika could even grasp fully how fast it moved, it had already approached Masaya, who had yet to move from his spot.
The dragon lunged, aiming to crush the foolish player, but its charge met only air as Masaya ducked rapidly, allowing the dragon's head to pass just above his body. When half its body had passed above him, Masaya's foot glowed red as he activated a Martial Arts skill.
There was a resounding boom as he twisted around and shot said foot upwards, where it impacted right against the dragon's stomach. Dust flew into the air as the shockwave of the attack blasted outward. The dragon roared in pain as it was sent flying, but it righted itself quickly in the air and glared down at Masaya, a foot-shaped red mark on its abdomen.
Marika stared blearily at the young man, only now remembering the fact that he had Martial Arts skills. 'One of these days', she thought, 'I need to ask him how he got them.'
Masaya returned to a standing position, staring right back up at the dragon, which roared and once again charged at him. As the creature approached, Masaya could see that out of its three health bars, the first had been reduced by a tenth.
"Good thing, too," Masaya murmured to himself, "Because that was one of my most powerful skills. I might need to use it often."
Then, the dragon was upon him, and he had no more time for reflection.
This time, instead of charging head-on, the dragon decided to swipe at him with the claws of its right hand. Masaya tensed, scanning the attack quickly, then jumped, managing to clear the attack just right. When he landed, he was forced to duck once again, as it had quickly turned and attempted the attack again, with its left hand this time. As it flew by him, it kicked out its left foot, catching Masaya by surprise and walloping him directly on the chest.
The brunet righted himself in mid-air, landing onto a slide on his feet and crouching to lay his hand on the ground and slow down his slide. He clutched his chest with his other hand, feeling a throb of pain shoot from it to the rest of his body. Vaguely, he wondered if his actual body had jolted due to that impact.
Standing straight and forcefully ignoring the pain for now, he faced the creature as it once again approached. When it tried its slash attack once again, he jumped just above it, but this time, he reached down and grabbed onto the hand, digging his fingers into its rocky skin and nearly snapping his arm out of its socket when he was dragged along with it. The dragon roared and flew upwards, shaking its hand to try and throw him off, but it wasn't until he saw it shake its arm up that he let go, using the momentum to fly up to its snout. As he approached, he clenched his fist, which glowed a green colour, and shot it forward, landing it right on the dragon's eye and sending it flying back with a pained roar. He quickly righted himself in mid-air once more and landed in a crouch on the rocky ground, taking an odd martial arts pose as the dragon crashed to the ground a few metres away.
From her position, Marika studied her boyfriend. She had been surprised when he grabbed onto the creature's claw and was taken along for the ride, and even more so when he punched it hard enough to send it flying. She could see that he was now fully serious, as his gaze was unwaveringly focused on his enemy. His right hand was near his waist, clenched into a fist, while his left was at chest level, with the palm open and, to Marika, ready to deflect any blow that would come his way.
The dragon shuffled momentarily before flipping around to its feet, gazing at Masaya with hatred. Instead of charging one more time, it instead began to stalk around him, watching him carefully. Masaya stared right back, his body tense and waiting.
As it reached a nine o'clock position to him, the dragon galloped towards him, seemingly attempting to run him over. But instead of rushing him, it stopped a few metres away and turned, sending its tail flying at Masaya. The young man watched the attack carefully and just barely twisted his right hand, which glowed blue this time. As the rocky tail approached, he punched out, and both attacks met, creating a shockwave as their forces cancelled each other out.
Pulling his arm back, Masaya immediately jumped and flipped forward, charging a skill through his right foot that he released as an axe kick, striking the dragon's tail directly and making it crash to the ground. This, however, left him vulnerable in mid-air, and while he was able to damage the creature, it returned the favour by slashing at him with its left hand, sending him flying to the ground with three long cuts on his chest.
"Masaya-kun!" Marika exclaimed, running towards her downed boyfriend. Kneeling by him, she fished out a health potion from a pouch on her waist, but stopped when she saw him hold up a hand. With a low beep, the scratches closed up, stopping the bleeding, though the wounds remained there, and when she looked at his health, she could see that it had recovered somewhat.
"Don't waste that health potion," he advised, standing up. "It's getting harder to get good ones the higher we go in Aincrad. My Battle Healing skill will be enough for now."
The blonde watched as he dashed towards the dragon again, frustration building in her bosom.
Masaya bent low as he ran towards his enemy, who roared and met his charge head-on. The dragon opened its jaws, ready to gobble the young man up, but he dodged it via sliding right underneath, attacking the dragon with the same red Martial Arts skill he had used when he first attacked, which forcefully closed its jaw. Quickly standing up, he pulled his left fist back and punched it on what he guessed was its chest, making it double over, then pulled his right fist back and attacked it with an uppercut once again on its lower jaw. The dragon dodged it by shoving its head to the side, then attacked Masaya with a right slash, which he dodged by leaning back, getting just out of range. As he straightened up, he was forced to jump forward as the dragon put its frontal hands together and attempted to crush him, landing on his hands and pushing himself upwards, assaulting it with a barrage of kicks on its sternum before he was forced to push off its body and roll to a stop a few metres away.
Looking up, he realised with a grin that its first health bar was now gone.
As he prepared himself to assault it once again, however, both he and the dragon were startled when a cry of anger came from Masaya's left. There was an almost blinding rush of light, then the sound of metal crashing against rock.
Marika had finally grown tired of watching Masaya run out into danger alone. This wasn't the first time he had refused her help, and she had grown weary of watching him run time and again into a situation that would leave her in the side-lines.
She wasn't going to let him fight alone anymore!
However, this was the one fight where she may have been in over her head.
Marika's eyes widened when she realised that the powerful jab sword skill she had attempted to attack the dragon that Masaya had knocked down with had practically bounced off its skin, taking away not even a fifteenth of its health. And unfortunately for her, this left her directly open and under the sight of the dragon, whose aggro was now focused on her. She was barely able to process it raising its paw to strike her down when it was sent flying once again by a well-placed kick from Masaya.
"Marika-san!" the brunet exclaimed. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes, I am fine…"
Masaya sighed, then fixed her with a disgruntled look. "This is why I told you to stay back! The dragon's skin is far too tough to try and hit with a sword! Sword skills just bounce off of it. Blunt weapons, like Keita's staff, or my Martial Arts skills work best against it!"
"And you expect me to just sit back and watch you get hurt again and again, unable to help?!" she yelled at him, her frustration finally bursting out of her. "I can't, Masaya-kun! I can't keep doing this! You know well this isn't the first time you leave me behind, and it frustrates me beyond belief that you believe me incapable of helping you!"
Masaya stared at her, his sight uncomprehending, then a light seemed to appear in his eyes, and he looked down morosely. "I… I'm sorry, Marika-san. Please, don't ever think that I think you're weak. It's just…"
Before Marika could ask what was wrong, a roar behind Masaya reminded them that they were still in a battle. Reacting on instinct, Masaya jumped in front of Marika and spread his arms wide, yelling in pain when the Gyo dragon swiped at him, sending him crashing into Marika and flying. He reflexively wrapped his arms around the woman, twisting in mid-air to prevent her from getting hurt. The pair bounced off the ground twice, then came to a grinding stop, whereupon Marika immediately untangled herself from his arms and turned the groaning young man over.
On his back were now four deep slash marks, similar to the three that he had gotten beforehand, and bleeding just as much as those had been. Quickly glancing at his health, she was dismayed to see that he was below the halfway point and steadily decreasing. She quickly fished out the same health potion she had taken out earlier, but once again, the cuts on his back closed as soon as she had it out, and his health stopped decreasing, though it didn't increase by much either.
"Masaya-kun, here, take the potion!"
Once again, however, Masaya sat up and pushed her hand away. "I told you to save them. I don't-."
"Masaya-kun!"
Her exclamation startled him into looking at her, and he was surprised and dismayed to see tears rolling from her eyes.
"Please… take it…" she whispered.
Under those pleading eyes, Masaya couldn't deny her. He swallowed and nodded, taking the potion from her hand and measuring out the amount he would drink. He brought the potion to his lips and swallowed about half, which led his health returning from forty to seventy percent.
"That should be enough," Masaya said when Marika stared at him questioningly. "I don't want to waste it, and my Battle Healing should take care of the rest in a bit. I just need to be careful with its blows."
Across from them, the Gyo dragon had gotten tired of waiting for them to attack. It pawed at the ground like a restless bull, its eyes fixated on Masaya.
"Go, Marika-san," Masaya said. "Stay back for now." When she made to exclaim something, he held a hand up to her lips, looking her in the eyes with his own, regretful pair. "Please, don't involve yourself in this one. You aren't prepared for it. I'm sorry that I made you feel the way I did, but I can't let you get hurt unnecessarily in this fight. So please, just back me up."
Marika stared into his eyes, but eventually nodded and stepped back. With that, Masaya looked back at the dragon, ready to fight with all he had.
"Let's go, then," he challenged the dragon, who seemed to have understood his intentions, as it reared its head back and roared to the skies before glaring at him once more and charging at him. Masaya ran towards it and met its charge with equal fervour.
Just before the pair reached each other, Masaya noticed that its health was now at one and a half bars.
When there was less than ten metres between them, Masaya jumped and attempted to land an axe kick on its snout. Then dragon, however, slithered out of the way, and Masaya's charge landed on the ground, creating a crater and sending several fist-sized rocks flying. The young man quickly gathered his bearings and turned, grabbing several of the rocks that had flown upwards. Before the dragon could attack, he jumped and charged one, releasing it like a bullet. The rock slammed into the dragon's left arm, pushing it backwards, and before it could retaliate or even get its balance back, another charged missile impacted its other arm, this time making it lose its balance and fall to the ground. The dragon wiggled oddly, attempting to get its feet under its body, but as it began to turn, Masaya jumped over it, charging a rock that was twice the size of the first two with both of his hands and blasting it into his adversary's now exposed back with the force of a meteorite, which made it slam into the ground, releasing a pained roar. Masaya's flight carried him to the ground just in front of the recovering creature, and just as he landed, he ducked, avoiding the slash attack that his adversary had just thrown at him by a hair's breadth. With his bent legs, he then used that power to propel himself backwards, flipping and aiming a haymaker at the dragon that lit up his whole arm like a lightsabre. That was one attack the dragon was unable to avoid, and it roared in pain as the attack landed on its sternum and made it slide back, its feet creating deep tracks on the ground.
Masaya landed and took the Martial Arts pose that he had taken before, waiting for the dragon to charge again. The dragon shook its head, recovering from the constant attacks of the young man, then looked at him, whereupon it opened its mouth and roared. In its mouth, though, Masaya realised that there was something new.
As he was forced to dodge the flow of flames that erupted from its gaping maw, Masaya realised his barrage of attacks earlier had dropped the dragon to its last health bar.
The dragon continued to roar as it released a powerful jet of fire towards the brunet, who jumped back and forth constantly to avoid the tongues of flame. It took no more than a few seconds for the dragon to stop, and in that instance, Masaya rushed forward, keeping his right fist near his waist and charging a skill that had taken him a long time to master. When the dragon noticed his approach, it reared back its hands and attempted to crush him once more, but he pushed on and ran just past them, sliding to a stop just in front of the creature and releasing his technique, appropriately named "Dragon's Strike".
The powerful gut punch landed true on the dragon's stomach, and a split-second later, the dragon doubled over as the delay effect of the attack's impact hit the creature. As its snout came closer to him, he knelt, charging another skill in his right foot. However, before he could release it, the dragon opened its mouth once again, and unlike the last time, it released a fireball at nearly point-blank range against Masaya, who was barely able to bring his arms up and cross them over his head before he was blasted by the attack and sent flying back.
The young man cried out in pain as he felt the explosion, just barely being able to keep his bearings. He could feel the pain that the front of his body was currently under, and when he finally slid to a stop and looked, his shirt had been completely ripped by the explosion and his arms and torso were slightly burnt.
He glared at the dragon, intending to attack it once more, but unfortunately, his body wouldn't move when he willed it to.
"Damnit, that's right!" Masaya exclaimed. "My attack was stopped before I could release it. I can't move for the next second…"
And that was all the dragon needed. It quickly ran forward and opened its maw, ready to swallow Masaya whole in a rapid bite, but before it could manage it, there was a flash of light, and a strike landed on its foot, stopping its charge and nearly making it trip. When both Masaya and the dragon looked at the culprit, they saw Marika jumping back to her original position, smirking in a challenging way towards the dragon.
And that was the moment Masaya needed.
As the dragon turned to attack the newcomer, Masaya's body was released from its frozen state, and the young man wasted no time. Masaya ran forward, ending up directly in front of the dragon, and when it looked down to regard him, he once again knelt and charged his attack, releasing it properly this time.
As the dragon reached towards Masaya once again to try and eat him up, its jaw was forcefully closed by the uppercut kick that the young man released with a flip. Its head was sent into the air as well, and before it could recover, Masaya crouched and jumped high, clearing the entire length of the standing dragon and ending up just above it.
When the dragon opened its eyes once more, all it saw was the image of Masaya falling towards it like a missile, his clenched fist in front of him and glowing with power, before said young man's technique slammed into its snout, taking away the small amount of health it had left.
Masaya crouched on the dragon's somewhat squashed snout and jumped off, landing on one knee just one metre away. Behind him, the dragon twitched once before falling to its side, laying still, and finally exploding into multi-coloured polygons.
The brunet sighed, assessing his body's condition. Now that he wasn't fighting, he could feel the pain of the burns that the dragon's fireball had inflicted on him, and his legs and arms were quite sore. He could also feel an oncoming headache from the focus he needed to be able to charge and unleash that many skills continuously. Standing, the brunet sighed once again, and when he opened his eyes, he blinked in stupefaction when he saw his girlfriend standing just in front of him.
And judging by her narrowed eyes and crossed arms, she wasn't happy.
"Well, Masaya-kun? Are you done?" she asked.
Masaya looked back towards where the body of the Gyo dragon had resided, then looked back at Marika. "Yeah, I'd say so."
"Good. Then I have only one thing to say." Before he could react, she walked forward and poked him on the chest. "I want you to take me to where you learned those Martial Arts skills, and then I want you to train me."
Masaya blinked in perplexity once again. "… Pardon? Marika-san, you're barely five levels below me-."
"And yet, that makes all the difference," the blonde responded. "Masaya-kun, you know as well as I do that there's been several times that you have refused to allow me to help you on a mission, whether it's because I'm unprepared or because I don't have the correct skillset." She stepped even closer, then suddenly hugged him, surprising the brunet once more. "No more, Masaya-kun. I'm tired of watching you run into battle alone. I'm tired of feeling helpless while I watch you be hurt. Please… please, I want to fight by your side. I want to be able to fight as you do."
Masaya stared at the young woman cuddling into his chest and couldn't help but heave a sigh of regret. He reached up and hugged her back, laying a small kiss on her head. "Again, I'm sorry I made you feel that way, Marika-san." He pushed her back, and this time, he laid a kiss on her lips instead. Unlike their regular ones, though, this one was calm, simple, and not hungry. This was merely a peck in comparison, but it meant a great deal to the blonde. When they separated, Masaya smiled. "If that will make you happy, Marika-san, I'll gladly help."
Marika smiled and hugged him once again, then suddenly pulled back and pulled out the half-empty health potion he drank earlier. "Here. Finish up this bottle and lets head back."
Masaya smiled in return and took it without complaint.
"Man, it's a good thing I had a replacement shirt," Masaya muttered as they arrived back at the village.
"Not for me," Marika responded impishly. "I'd have liked to see that body of yours some more…"
Masaya chuckled. "Yes, yes, I'm aware. I'm actually quite surprised that the Nerve Gear replicated the look of my body so deeply. Though…" His eyes gazed at Marika and settled on her torso, making her blush. "If they replicated your assets so well, I shouldn't be that surprised."
Marika's blush doubled, and she crossed her arms around her chest reflexively. Masaya chuckled in response and continued on to the office of the village leader, whereupon he talked to the old man and completed the quest.
As they exited the stone building, Marika could see a smile appear on Masaya's face.
"What is it, Masaya-kun? Did you get something good?" she asked. Being a part of the party that had defeated the dragon, she had received a part of the Col, EXP, and materials that came with it, but it seemed like Masaya had received something else.
Masaya simply nodded, showing her his player window. He had left it on the inventory screen, where Marika saw an item that made her eyes widen in surprise.
[Rare Item Acquired: Draconic Gauntlets Blueprint!]
"No way!" the blonde exclaimed, re-reading the message once and again. "This is one of the blueprints that the yearly message said had been added to the game?"
"Yeah. It's one of the reasons that I wanted to do the quest. And defeating the dragon gave me one of the necessary materials." When she looked at him, he opened the blueprint details, which showed a small picture of what the finished product would look like, a description of what it was, and a list of the ingredients needed.
Two of the necessary four pieces were already filled.
[Gyo Dragon Skin: 1/1.]
[Windwasp Stingers: 10/10.]
"Kirito and I made a habit of collecting Windwasp stingers," Masaya explained when she looked at him. "I needed it more than most due to my fighting style, but now…" Masaya looked at his fist, clenching it for a second. "I think I might change my mind…"
When they arrived home, they were greeted by Silica, who had been making sandwiches in the kitchen.
"Welcome home, you two," the dragon tamer said with a happy smile.
"Hey, Silica," Masaya responded, smiling in return.
"Hello, Silica," Marika likewise greeted her. The blonde looked around for a moment, then said, "Is Kirito-kun home?"
"No, and that's actually getting me a little worried,"' Silica responded, a pout on her face. "He said he would return in a little bit. He was supposedly going to get some work done on his sword, but it's already been hours!"
Masaya smirked and turned to the living room, easily falling on one of the couches. The two females looked at him, then back at each other.
"Masaya-kun? Aren't you worried about him?" Marika asked.
"No," Masaya shook his head. "I trust in him. If he got in deep trouble, then he'd have already messaged any of us. Since he hasn't, then whatever trouble he got into is something he can handle."
The girls looked at each other again, but couldn't really refute him.
It was another few hours, sometime after the sun had already set, before the front door opened and Kirito appeared, looking only a little haggard.
"Kirito!" came the cry from Silica, who immediately met him at the door. "Where have you been?! It's been a lot longer than 'a little bit.'"
Kirito looked down at the dragon tamer, blinking in stupefaction, then sighed and asked in return, "Are Masako and Fleur-?"
"We're here!" Masaya called out from the living room.
"Alright." Kirito nodded at Silica and entered, going to the living room and plopping down on the couch opposite of Masaya's. "Jeez, I'm burned out…"
"What happened?" Marika asked him.
"Would you believe me if I told you I fought a dragon?"
There was a deafening silence, which led to Kirito opening his eyes and staring at the other three.
"What?"
Then, suddenly, the trio laughed, startling Kirito.
"What's so funny?!" the young man asked in confusion.
When they finally calmed down, Masaya smirked.
"Kirito, buddy… it's funny you mention that…"
"You must be kidding…" Kirito chuckled tiredly.
"And that dragon won't be the only one," Masaya said, making everyone look at him. He stood and walked over to the wall to his left, where a bookshelf had been built and added to the place. This was where Masaya and Kirito kept all the books they owned. After looking for a moment, he pulled out a somewhat thick, leather-bound volume, opening it and flipping a few of the pages until he was about halfway into it. Once the words came into focus, he turned back to the other three, who were looking at him expectantly.
"There is a tale on this book… a story of powerful dragons. Each dragon kind had their respective properties, abilities, and weaknesses, and because of it, they forged a pact through battle to contain themselves in their own territory and remain there. However, some didn't want this. They sought more territory, more power. And thus, those dragons continued to fight amongst themselves, sometimes fighting and killing more pacifistic dragons. Soon, only a few were left. Those dragons realised that their constant fighting had brought them to the edge of extinction, and for that reason, they fled, hiding in the areas and floors that best suited their bodies and lifestyles. The one Fleur and I hunted was one of them, the Rock Mountain Dragon, a Gyo dragon of Korean mythology. And it gave me one of the blueprints for legendary weapons that had been added to the game on its anniversary."
Masaya pulled up his inventory and showed it to Kirito and Silica, whose mouths fell open when they saw the blueprint.
"So… the dragon that I encountered on that mountain…" Kirito began.
"… is probably one of such dragons," Masaya finished. "But you didn't kill it, did you?"
"No," Kirito shook his head. "I had what I needed, so Lisbeth and I just left."
"Lisbeth?" Fleur asked.
"Oh, a friend of Asuna's," Kirito explained. "She's a blacksmith, complete with her own shop on Floor 48, Lindarth. I went to ask her for a favour."
"What kind of favour?" Masaya asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
"Not that kind of favour!" Kirito exclaimed heatedly before becoming subdued. The Black Swordsman opened his menu and materialised a beautiful, green-tinted sword, the pommel of which was shaped into a cross-like design. "It was for this."
Everyone stared at the sword in awe. It looked to be well crafted and quite powerful, while retaining a graceful amount of elegance.
"But… Kirito, why did you ask for a sword? Don't you already have the Elucidator, the best sword in the game so far?" Silica asked in confusion.
Kirito squirmed in his seat, hesitance clear in his countenance. However, Masaya's next words served to shock him.
"Is it what you've been hiding from us?" the brunet asked, not a trace of anger or annoyance in his tone.
Kirito stared at Masaya, gobsmacked. "H-how do you…?"
"I don't know what it is, exactly, if that's what you're wondering," Masaya assured him. "I'm just aware that you've been hiding something from us."
Kirito once again became subdued, then nodded. "Yeah… it's because of something like that."
"Well then, are you planning to come clean?" Masaya asked. "Or do you want to keep it to yourself some more?"
Kirito thought it over, but in the end, he shook his head. "No, I don't want to keep hiding it. You guys deserve to know, and it's been getting annoying anyways."
The Black Swordsman beckoned them all to come outside with him. Once at the yard in front of the house, he pulled up his menu, scrolled through it for a bit, and finally selected something. Another sheath materialised on his back, creating an x there alongside his Elucidator. Kirito drew Elucidator as well, then stood there with both swords in his hands. The trio of spectators waited for one of the swords to disappear, as it was well-known that you couldn't wield two swords at the same time in the game.
Kirito's next actions served to shatter that thought.
The young man took a fighting pose, then jumped forward, reaching one of the trees around the house in a split-second. Both swords glowed together as the Black Swordsman slashed in opposite directions with the swords, slicing the tree neatly into thirds. The crash of the tree pieces hitting the ground served to bring back Masaya, Marika, and Silica to their senses.
"But… But how?!" Silica asked in shock. "I thought dual wielding was nearly impossible in this game, with only one exception of short cleavers!"
"It is," Masaya concurred with her. "Which means this isn't a regular thing, is it?"
Kirito nodded. "A week and a half ago, I woke up and checked over my menu and skills, and one particular skill I'd never seen before was there. 'Dual Wielding', it said, and that's exactly what it is. It allows me to wield, attack, and defend with two swords at the same time."
The trio stared at Kirito in surprise. "You don't know how you got it?" Marika asked him.
"Nope, no clue."
The four of them remained quiet, thinking over the possible ways he could have gotten the special skill, but no one could come up with anything.
"Well, I suppose you're quite lucky, then," Masaya shrugged, stepping towards the young man. "But why didn't you tell us sooner?"
Kirito looked down. "I was… worried, if you'll believe me. I wasn't sure how you'd react if I told you, and… I didn't want to be called a cheater or anything…" Kirito looked away as Masaya frowned. "I know, I know; it's stupid, but-."
"It's not stupid," Masaya cut him off. "It's a legitimate fear, and I understand why you'd think that way. But believe me, little brother…" Masaya stepped forward and ruffled the shorter Kirito's hair. "I'm just proud of you. You're even more powerful now, and that's something that makes me happy."
Kirito stared at Masaya with wide eyes, then chuckled and sighed. "Thanks, Masako."
"Anytime. And, well…" The three others looked at Masaya as he shifted in place. "You're not the only one… that's hiding something."
"What do you mean?" Kirito asked.
In response, Masaya approached an intact tree and motioned towards it. "Try to use a Martial Arts punch on this tree, Kirito. The strongest, direct punch you can."
The young man sheathed his swords and nodded, approaching the tree. He pulled back one fist, charged a straight-punch skill, and shot it forward, impacting the tree and making it shake strongly. Several leaves fell from it, and two apples fell on either side of him. When he pulled his fist back, there was a somewhat deep red indentation on the tree.
"Now what?" Kirito asked.
Masaya opened his menu and scrolled through it, selecting an option on his character menu. Waving at Kirito to step back, he stepped in front of the tree, took the same position Kirito had, and charged the same exact skill.
The next moment, Kirito, Silica, and Marika were left gobsmacked as they watched the tree shatter into splinters, the pieces flying everywhere. The impact caused a shockwave that made the three have to cover themselves, but otherwise, they watched in complete awe as Masaya returned to his original position and took a breath.
"What… what was that?" Silica asked, a little fearfully.
Masaya looked back at her. "That… was my own special skill. Overwhelming Strength."
"Overwhelming Strength?" the three asked simultaneously.
Masaya nodded, looking directly at Marika. "That special ability is exactly why I could fight and defeat the Gyo dragon. It heavily multiplies the overall strength of my character, to the point where I could do what I just did to that tree."
That was when Silica remembered something and shuddered.
"Silica?" Masaya asked in worry.
"Just thinking… you can multiply the strength of your avatar so much, which makes it almost impossible for you to wield normal swords without them breaking in your grasp, so Martial Arts skill are the best attacks for you to use," she explained. "And you're looking to build legendary gauntlets for use with your Martial Arts skills, I'm guessing." Masaya nodded. "… You're going to be something else, Masako. To really get use of your special skill, you practically need those gauntlets."
Kirito and Marika, now understanding what she meant, nodded in tandem, while Masaya smiled awkwardly.
"I find something odd, though," Kirito mused. "You're an Agility-based character, Masako. Wouldn't any special skill you get reflect that, instead of strength?"
Masaya, Marika, and Silica thought about it and had to admit he was right.
"True, since Kirito-kun is purely a swordsman, it stands to some reason that he got Dual Wielding as a skill," Marika considered aloud. "But yours doesn't really make that much sense, Masako-kun."
"Wait a second, it just might," Silica suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "Masako, just how skilled are you with Martial Arts?"
Masaya raised an eyebrow. "How skilled…?"
"How many skills do you have of that specific type?" she specified.
Masaya blinked and thought about it, then shrugged. "I don't know the exact number, but it's pretty high up there."
"Then that might be why," she concluded, smacking her fist into her palm. "Kirito and I have seen how you fight many times, Masako. It's possible you got it due to using Martial Arts skills so often instead of sticking purely to swords like most of the players."
The rest of them had to admit that it made a lot of sense.
"Well, putting those factors aside," Masaya sighed, "Yes, Kirito, you aren't the only one here with a Special Skill. Truthfully, I had the same fears you did about this."
Kirito smiled. "Well, at least we're still equal badasses."
Everyone laughed at that.
…
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