Chapter 10: "I don't care if I die."

4th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings. 10:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time.

Klein returned to the Warrior's Rest Inn, where himself, Haro, and of course Lis had been renting rooms the past few nights. Klein trudged up the stairs to the second floor, where Lis' room was. He knocked on it a few times when it swung open.

"Klein!" Lis crashed into him with an embrace. "You didn't die, you're still here!" Lis exclaimed with tears of joy in her eyes. Klein wrapped his arms back around her. Klein realised in this moment that he had felt happy and calm for the first time in a month, with Lis wrapped around him.

"Yup, I'm still here." Klein smiled back.

"Where's Haro?" Lis pulled back, now looking at Klein's face. She noticed a new scratch across his cheek, and ran the back of her hand across it. "What happened to you during the fight?"

"I didn't see Haro die. I don't know where he went off to after the fight. He's still ok though."

"I'm glad to hear it! He'll probably come around in the next few days. Maybe he was still upset about earlier."

"Maybe."

"Well come on, I'm starved! I've been so worried about you the entire day, I haven't eaten!"

"Ok, yeah, let's go."

Lis took Klein by the hand and led him downstairs to the cafe at the base of the inn. Klein didn't even have time to unequip his gear yet. The two found a table and sat down.

"So, I've been thinking the past couple of days. God, it seems so much longer than that." Began Lis. "That I'm not sure I could handle myself in a battle as dangerous as a boss battle, or even some of the Labyrinth creatures. But, I still want to support the effort to escape. So, I was considering becoming a craftsman. A blacksmith, to be exact."

"Lis, I wouldn't go that far yet. I still think you should try higher level combat once. You're strong, and you learn quickly. We get you some nice, statted out gear, train a little bit more, and maybe do some Labyrinth runs on Floor 2, and see how it goes."

"I'm just so...hesitant, and anxious, and nervous, and what if.."

"Lis, stop." Klein took her hands, Lis instantly began to blush. "I don't quite know the plans for Floor 2 yet, or if even there are any drawn up yet. I do think it's worth a try on your end though, to be with the clearing team. Maybe not up to the boss quite yet, if you're not feeling comfortable with it, but just participate in the clearing of the Labyrinth. I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Th-thank you." Smiled Lis. "I'll maybe give it a try. Let's see how I feel in the morning."

The two enjoyed their meal and continued to chat on several lighter subjects. Eventually they finished, and after paying the tab, walked back up the stairs. Klein staying on the third floor, walked down the hallway of the second floor to Lis' room with her, sort of "walking her back home". Lis opened the door and turned around.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Man, I can't wait to see Floor 2!" Said Klein, and began to turn and walk away.

"Hey, um, Klein?" A nervous Lis began.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Would you mind, er, staying with me tonight? I don't want it to be anything more, and I just…..almost don't believe you're still here. I thought this morning when I saw you leave that it would be the last time I would see you, and-"

"Yes, I will. Of course I will, Lis."

"Thank you." Lis replied gently, and pulled Klein into her room.

Lis changed into her nightwear and laid back on the bed. Klein turned a chair from the living area to face Lis and sat in it. The two stayed up for a couple more hours, just continuing to talk. They even brought up their thoughts about about what was going on in the real world, something that was considered "rude" to do in game, but in the privacy they had, they were both into discussing it. Lis reminisced about the cafe Klein worked at in the real world, and Klein brought up all of his favorite stories about patrons. Eventually Lis drifted off to sleep.

Klein finally unequipped his gear. The burden from his shoulders felt lifted, both physically and metaphorically. Sitting back, and thinking of all the events that transpired throughout the day, taking some time to process them. Klein yawned and decided to call it. He looked over to the bed and Lis was already asleep, but she had left a spot open for him.

Klein laid down next Lis. She turned to face him. Klein was taken back. The only light in the room was coming from the moonlight shining through the curtain, but he could still make out Lis' beautiful brown eyes that perfectly matched her hair. Her warmth and presence from across the bed felt incredible to Klein.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing, just thank you for coming back." Lis closed her eyes and smiled before falling asleep. At peace, Klein fell asleep.

5th December, 2022. Aincrad. Floor 2, Urbus

Kirito awoke with a stretch, and equipped his gear. He stepped out of the inn he had laid his head in the night before, and checked the time. 5:05 AM, Aincrad Standard Time. He was still exhausted from the boss fight, and he could feel his muscles ache. All of the training he did didn't have an affect on his physique or physical appearance in game, but his in-game stat reflected all of the work he had put in. He was still built the same as he was when he entered Aincrad. A rather skinny but athletically toned teenager. He could thank years of kendo practice for that. He set out towards the Labyrinth.

Following the map, the route to the Labyrinth brought him to the base of the iron obelisk on Floor 2. At the base, he saw engravings adorned all over the obelisk. The engravings seemed to center around a massive bull-like creature. Kirito ran his hand across the obelisk. A part of it facing him receded and dropped, revealing the entrance to the Labyrinth. He drew his sword, and entered the Labyrinth.

He was faced with his first creature. Kirito observed it had no weapons, it was just quite simply a 4 legged bull. Kirito glanced at it's level. Level 13. Kirito stood guarded with his weapon. The bull began to kickback before charging forward towards Kirito. Kirito was taken back by the bull's speed. Kirito thought he dodged a little bit early, but after witnessing the bull's speed, he was glad that he did. Kirito sprinted and charged an attack while the bull was turning back around. Kirito landed a series of fast strikes. The battle dynamic continued like this for a short while before the bull's HP dropped to zero. Nothing but a standard hide dropped off of the bull, but Kirito noticed his XP bar tick up a few notches. He rested briefly, and knowing what to expect, he delved further into the Labyrinth.

Argo and Egiru began posting flyers in The Town Of Beginnings and Urbus respectively. The flyer was plain white and simply read: "To all beta testers, It's time to organize. You know where to go. Tomorrow morning, 8:00 AM"

"That's the last one." Egiru muttered to himself after finishing.

Egiru returned to the town center of Urbus where he found Argo on a bench, meal in hand.

"Took you long enough." Jested Argo.

"Whatever."

Argo produced a second bento for Egiru, and they sat and ate.

"Noticed anything different yet? From the beta that is." Asked Egiru.

"No, nothing too drastic. The most changes people will have to experience will come on this floor. We of course have to wait and see, but the other floors will act more like this one. Argus really changed what Floor 1 would be like relative to the rest of the game. Kind of a dickish tutorial if you ask me."

"Did you remember to activate your stats crystal yet?"

"Yeah, how about you?"

"Yup, did it this morning."

"Have you happened to ask if people who weren't a part of the raid got one?"

"I didn't directly ask, but I noticed some guys today who discovered it in their inventory. And they certainly weren't part of the raid."

"Good, that should definitely help people out."

Asuna approached the entrance to Floor 2's Labyrinth. It was twelve in the afternoon, and the sun was at its highest on this clear day. Asuna reached the entrance, and was about to step in when she noticed a figure coming out of the Labyrinth. She stood ready to draw her sword, fearing that this figure could be a creature trying to escape from the Labyrinth. The figure drew closer.

"Kirito, is that you?" Asuna asked as the figure came into view and was outside in the sunlight. She glanced up. Level: 12.

Kirito turned. "Oh, hi."

"What were you doing?"

"Clearing the Labyrinth. I made it past the first staircase that leads up. This one is a lot larger than the one on Floor 1."

"Wait, you were fighting in there alone? There's no one else in there with you? That's very dangerous. You could easily get-"

"I don't care if I die. If I die, at least I die fighting. At least I'll know I was trying. I need to ask the same. What exactly are you doing here?"

"I came to fight as well. To clear the Labyrinth."

"You should take your own advice, Asuna. The creatures in there, are more dangerous than anything you've fought yet. Except for maybe Illfang. One misstep, and you'll die."

"I...I don't care if I do either."

Kirito was taken back at this response. Kirito recalled just yesterday when Asuna giggled about not knowing how to glance up to see a player's info. She didn't seem like the kind of person to Kirito to have this attitude.

"Here, take this map data. I don't mind having to fill it out again. It's filled in to as far as I got in there, the first staircase leading to the next level. You be able to take a few twists and turns into rooms that still have enemies that I didn't clear, just so you can get a feel for it." Kirito offered. He pulled up his menu, and issued the commands to condense and send the map data.

"How do I hit accept?"

"Oh, here, pull up your map, and you should get prompted to receive information from me."

Asuna did as instructed, and watched the sub map of the Labyrinth fill before being abruptly stopped at the first staircase.

"That's as far as I got." Said Kirito.

"Thanks."

"Be careful in there. I might care if you do die, Asuna."

The line struck Asuna. How did she take that statement? Was he saying he doesn't care right now, but would if she ended up dying? Or was it he cares right now?

"I'll do what I need to get stronger."

Asuna departed into the Labyrinth. Kirito found a clear spot just outside the entrance and produced lunch from his inventory. Even though it was Winter, the weather was nice today. The sun felt warm on Kirito's skin, and he could feel a light breeze through his hair. Suddenly, when the breeze was quiet, he noticed the faint sounds of weapons clanging against each other.

"Well, she must be managing ok." Kirito thought to himself.

There were many varieties of creatures in the Labyrinth besides the bull that he first fought. He eventually encountered creatures with weapons, and put up a bit more of a challenging fight. The echoes went quiet, before being broken by a shattering sound. Immediately Kirito perked up. He recognised what that sound was.

"Asuna!"

Kirito sprinted into the Labyrinth. He could feel the adrenaline starting to kick in.

"Asuna!" He desperately shouted. "Where are you?!"

He only heard a scream in response, he could hear it echo almost endlessly through the bounds of the Labyrinth. But he thought he may have heard where it came from. Suddenly he heard the sound of flesh being cut, followed by another scream of pain. Kirito made a sharp left into a room off of the primary pathway of the Labyrinth. He found her.

"Asuna!"

Kirito drew his sword and sprinted for an attack on the creature, who had his weapon raised for a final blow against Asuna. Kirito briefly glanced over to her direction, a giant red damage wound was in the center of her abdomen, and her health was in the low red zone. Just as the creature began to lower his weapon to strike, Kirito parried it away and retaliated with a series of blows in the opening he created, finishing off the creature. He ran over to Asuna, pulling out a health potion.

"Drink this."

Asuna sipped on the potion, and they both slowly watched her health restore as well as the red wound on her body diminish. SAO's damage indication system appeared as very "gameified" wounds on the body of the player. A light red color consumed the damaged area, and instead of blood and flesh a grid pattern could be seen. From Kirito's knowledge in the beta, limbs of players could actually be severed, albeit temporarily before being restored as the player's HP went up. HP only naturally regenerated outside of combat. The only way to restore HP during combat would be to drink health potions to recover.

"I-...I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I-I was fighting when-"

Asuna was visibly shaken by the encounter. She was struggling to get words out, just trying to explain what went wrong, and how she ended up in the situation.

"I-...I was fighting. And my weapon, it-"

"It shattered." Completed Kirito. "The durability of the weapon fell to zero. In this game, weapons have a durability stat. The more it's used, the lower the durability counter goes. When it reaches zero, the weapon shatters and breaks. You can get it restored to its maximum durability at a blacksmith."

"I'm so stupid!" Asuna began to sob. "I didn't even know that was a mechanic. I didn't-"

"When you killed Illfang, you got an item in your inventory. A Stats Crystal. Have you used it yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Activate it when you get the chance to. When you get out of here. It'll let you see the more detailed stats of a weapon besides damage. Durability is one of those stats. I don't know why Argus decided to lock this ability into an item only obtained by completing the first floor. I guess no one used their weapon enough on the first floor to have their weapons shattered, or else they would've made a fuss about it. There was no crystal back then, so that was kind of new to me as well."

Back then? Asuna thought. Was he referring to the beta?

"Asuna, the way back to the entrance is clear. You should spend the rest of the day away from here. Come back when you're ready. There's no rush."

Kirito stood up and began to walk away. Asuna remained sitting on the ground.

"Kirito, thank you."

Kirito continued to walk away. Eventually Asuna couldn't hear his footsteps, and she knew she was alone again. She remained sitting in place, her head tucked into her knees.

Kirito returned to Urbus. Walking through the town, he noticed the flyer put up by Argo and Egiru.

"You know the place?" Kirito thought. He recalled his time during the beta. Where would the players meet when discussing the floor boss?

"Oh, that's right." He recalled the caverns beneath the Tolbana ampitheatre. It was more of a private place beneath the primary performance area of Tolbana.

Kibaou walked through the streets of Urbus with his head down.

"How dare he?" He mumbled and questioned out loud, but only to himself. "How dare he steal from us? How dare he kill us? To let us die like he did? He deserves worse than what he brought upon us. Much worse. Enjoy the glory now, Beater. Your day will come."

"You ok there?" Asked a hooded figure, approaching from a backstreet.

"What? Yeah of course. Just thinking out loud."

"He let one of my friends die too."

"Wha-"

"Right in front of his eyes, and he didn't do a thing."

"Bastard."

"You don't have to tell me. It seems I want revenge on him as much as you do."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing yet. Just some help exploring some….game mechanics."

"I'll help you. I never caught your name."

"I know yours."

"Yes, but what's yours? I want to know."

"Haro."