10
December 3, 2022
Floor 1, Forest Field
"Mob on the left!" Someone shouted behind him.
Turning to face the threat, Jae saw a huge Grey Wolf hurtling through the trees towards them. To his right, Israel drew his sword Silverthorne, but Jae was faster.
In one motion Jae reached for the spear at his back, ripping it from the latches as he spun it outwards before him. Just as the snarling beast leaped for his throat, the tip of Jae's spear smashed into it's face.
Crashing to the ground, the wolf snarled again as Jae took a single step forward. Foaming at the mouth in rage, the beast attempted to jump at him. Before it could rise however, Jae brought his spear down with one quick movement, impaling the wolf where it lay.
As the on-death explosion showered him in digital fragments, Jae spun his spear once more, carrying it through the air behind him as he latched it onto his back. Turning, he saw the entire raid party looking on in admiration. Israel merely rolled his eyes.
After falling back in with the others, Israel resumed his place at his right.
"Show off."
Jae craned his neck, fixing his brother in an expression of innocence.
"Show off? If I wanted to do that I would've used a four hit combo instead of two. Makes it look more flashy."
Israel sighed. "Whatever you say, bro." He paused, then looked over at Jae hopefully. "Got any roast beef left on you from last night?"
Jae shook his head in annoyance. "Nope, you ate it all for breakfast you ass. Honestly, if I didn't know any better I'd say your stomach was the reason for our constant lack of cash."
Israel patted him on the shoulder. "Good think you know better then, or I'd think you were trying to make a joke. In which case I'd then be forced to give you a good ass whipping in a duel."
Jae scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. Your health would be gone before you could draw that pretty sword of yours."
Israel raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a challenge. Once we get back home today, I say we put those words to the test." He extended a hand. "Winner gets the bed for a week?"
Jae shook his brother's hand. "Deal."
After an evening of good food and drinks, Jae and Israel had teleported back to Trevica to get some sleep. The next morning they woke up early, eating a quick breakfast of fried fish that had been on sale from the item shop. Afterwards, they had made some last minute preparations before heading back to Tolbana.
To Jae's irritation, Tristan hadn't replied to Israel's message the night before, so they were forced to spend the majority of their remaining Col on teleport and health crystals. With rent on their room due in two days, all they could do was hope the raid would earn them enough money.
Before setting out that morning, Diabel had told them that all money earned would be divided evenly among the party. Any rare items would be kept by whoever they dropped for. While Israel didn't quite like the idea of sharing his money, Jae managed to convince him that it was only fair, and they might even get more money that way if things went well.
"Shouldn't be much further now." Jae remarked as he peered over the heads of those in front. "Diabel said the Labyrinth entrance is just beyond the woods."
"Good," Israel replied irritably, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "We've been walking all morning and the humidity in this forest is really starting to piss me off."
Jae chuckled as he watched Israel push his hair behind his ears. "Long hair in summer really doesn't do you any favors. Why not let me cut it for you?"
Israel looked as though he had just been asked to commit suicide. "I'd rather fight a level one hundred boss monster with the ability to paralyze me forever, and a sword that could kill me in one hit than cut my hair, let alone with you being the one holding the scissors."
Jae threw up his hands as he laughed. "My bad bro, I didn't know you felt so strongly about it."
"Yeah the hell you didn't. I promise you Jae, touch my hair and you die."
Jae had to struggle to reign in his laughter. "Alright, alright. God, talk about touchy."
They kept walking, and about twenty minutes later the raiding party had reached the Labyrinth. Just beyond the treeline stood a huge stone structure at least a hundred feet wide. The entrance, a pair of double doors fashioned from some kind of black wood, stood open as if inviting them inside. Looking up, Jae could see the black walls of the Labyrinth rising higher than the eye could see. All was silent around them.
"Alright everyone," Diabel shouted firmly as he turned to face the group. "This is it. From here on out, things get serious. The mobs in here will be stronger than the others, but they are not our goal." He paused to make sure his next words were clear. "Our mission is the Floor One Boss, Ulfang." He peered out into the crowd of players. "Where's Squad G at?"
Jae and Israel stepped out of the group and walked up to him.
Taking them aside, Diabel addressed them quietly. "Alright, I'm counting on you guys to keep us up to date on what we're walking into as we make our way to the Boss room. Stay ahead, but not to the point where you can't quickly run back to us if you get in trouble.
"Remember," he added firmly, "the Labyrinth isn't the important part. We just need to get through it as quickly as possible so we can get to the real fight. Don't take any risks, and don't get worn out before the Boss. Sound good?"
Jae and Israel both nodded. "Not a problem," Jae replied. "We'll make sure the party gets there in one piece."
Giving them a final nod to go ahead, Diabel turned back to the rest of the group, giving direction as they formed up. Without looking back, Jae and Israel drew their weapons and walked inside.
As soon as they past the doors, the two brothers looked around in awe.
Dimly lit, with only torches at certain intervals to guide them on, it was still easy to see just how large the massive room was. Before them, a red carpet ran along the stone floor, seemingly without end.
Israel whistled, the sound echoing across the hall.
"This place is pretty cool," he remarked. "Maybe we should move here."
Jae looked at him in surprise. "In this place? Dude, even the torches scream 'sketchy.'"
Israel nodded as he took one last look around. "You're right about that. See any monsters with that Detection skill of yours?"
Jae shook his head as he scanned the area. "Nothing yet, but my Detection is only level twenty, so I'm not going to take any chances."
Keeping their weapons at the ready, Israel and Jae kept close together as they moved forward, following the carpet laid out before them.
As they drew deeper into the Labyrinth, Jae could occasionally hear the faint voices of the raid party out of sight behind them. Other than that, there was only silence.
Jae had just sent a message to Diabel, letting him know they were still fine and no threats had been found, when he suddenly heard a rush of wind in the darkness to Israel's left.
Before he could cry out, a Skeleton Warrior lunged out of the shadows, his shortsword aimed for a stab at Israel's exposed side. Without hesitation Jae moved to push Israel out of the way.
It came as something of a surprise then when his hand caught only air.
Jumping high, Israel cleared the skeleton's attack while at the same time launching his leg forward. His leather boot connecting with the mob's face, Israel grunted as his kick sent it reeling backwards several feet.
How the hell…
Seeing his opening, Jae pushed his thoughts aside and levelled his spear as he charged forward. Activating his sword skill, Spear Thrust, Jae closed the distance and rammed his spear into the monster's eye. Shattering its skull from the force of his attack, Jae looked on as the shards flew past.
When he was sure there no other creatures nearby, he turned to Israel.
"How the hell did you do that?"
Israel blinked. "I'm not sure- oh wait." he grinned in revelation. "Acrobatics. That's the secondary skill I chose. Though if I'm being honest, Naomi was the one who suggested it."
Jae was taken aback. "Acrobatics? I didn't even know that was a skill." He glanced at Israel in confusion. "Of all the skills to choose? Why that one?"
"I wanted my first sideskill to support my fighting style rather than being something independent of it. Specifically something that would help me fight exactly how I do in real life. But then again…" he paused, scratching his facial hair.
"But then again…?" Jae repeated expectedly as he looked around. He shifted his weight as he returned his glance to Israel.
"It could also be because of my third skill. I picked Dodge."
Jae shook his head in exasperation. "Next time, let me know what skills you have going on, would you?" He pondered the new information. "It does make sense though. In real life, you fight with speed and rely on your reflexes and rapid movements. Not to mention those stupid fucking spins."
Israel grinned. "You call them stupid, but I don't remember you ever managing to get a hit against them."
Jae shrugged. "I was going easy on you. It's not honorable to attack an opponent with his back turned." His voice took on a more serious edge. "I'm pretty sure a jump like that was Acrobatics. Dodging isn't fancy, it's pretty much just a simple duck or sidestep. Anyway, we should keep going before the others catch up."
Nodding in agreement, Israel again closed ranks with him as they continued on, but not before Jae sent another message warning Diabel of enemy contact.
They had just begun walking again when they suddenly saw a wide set of stairs ahead of them. Advancing cautiously, they soon saw that behind the staircase was the back wall, stretching into the darkness on either side.
"Looks like there's only one way to go." Jae remarked. "I wonder what the point of this room was if we're just gonna go up."
Israel glanced to the sides. "There's probably some mobs and other stuff deeper in that we can't see from here." He gave Jae an excited look. "We should come back and check out the rest of this room once the raid is done."
Jae nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I'm pretty sure the torches light up when players are nearby, so it probably isn't that dark the further in you go."
Giving the stairs a final look, Israel began marching forward. "I hope we don't get any more surprises until we reach the top. I'm not a fan of uphill battles."
Following him up, Jae quickly sent a message about the staircase to Diabel before catching up and falling in on Israel's right.
Though the stairs were wide, they didn't go on for long. Once they reached the top, Jae and Israel could see that the next room was pretty much the same, except that now there were several rooms along the path instead of just an endless hall. Upon reading in Diabel's reply that the group was already on the stairs, Jae and Israel began picking up the pace. As they moved throughout the different rooms along the path, Jae detected several skeletons in each one. Working together, the two brothers quickly cut down the enemies in their way.
Before long, several flights of stairs had been climbed, each leading to a more complex room. Though there were no traps, the number of enemies in each room began growing more numerous. The walls soon began to cut them off from the path, forcing them to take alternate routes before getting back on track. Carefully detailing every turn in his messages to Diabel, Jae made sure to pay close attention to the number of enemies in each new area.
After over an hour of skirmishing and winding their way through the veritable maze the Labyrinth had become, both of them were growing weary.
We should rest up for a second," Israel said as he examined the room they had just cleared. "We need to be at full strength when we reach the Boss."
Jae nodded in agreement. "We're a good distance from the main group now, I'd say we can afford a few minutes."
Shouldering their weapons, the two brothers kept an eye on the three doors that lead out of the room as they sat against the wall.
"This is taking longer than I thought." Israel commented. "I had no idea the Labyrinth was so damn big."
Jae closed his eyes, leaning his head back onto the wall. "Me neither, but Diabel said in his last message that we're close to twenty flights up. That's the one the Boss will be on."
"Almost there." Israel glanced over at Jae. "You really want to prove yourself to these guys, don't you? How come?"
Jae opened his eyes as he thought it over.
"I guess it's because I want to keep doing this, and right now they're the only ones with the same mindset." He looked at his boots. "I believe that this is the right course of action. To clear this game, we need to keep fighting, keep finding these Floor Bosses. If this raid is successful, all the players still alive will see that SAO can be beaten." His eyes seemed to gleam as he spoke. "Killing this Boss will be a huge boost of morale for everyone. More will join up with the raid party. If we get enough strong people together and don't stop our momentum, we could probably do it in a matter of months. We can beat this game."
Israel looked away, muttering. "And while you do that, the weak players will keep on dying."
Jae opened his mouth to retaliate. At that moment, a lizardman appeared in the center door. Covered in armor and holding a halberd that emanated a bluish glow, the monster's eyes glowed as it glanced down at them. For a moment, both Jae and Israel were too surprised to move. Jae was sure they had cleared the area around them.
Charging forward, the lizardman hissed as it swung it's halberd down for an overhead attack. Jumping up, Jae was shocked at the speed with which the creature reached them. Unable to prepare an attack of his own, Jae twirled his spear as he braced to block the blow.
At the last moment the monster shifted its weight, sending its glowing halberd crashing down onto Jae's spear right in the center, not even an inch from where his hand was. An instant later, the spear exploded into a million tiny fragments. Stunned, Jae stepped backwards as the monster pressed its attack, swinging its halberd once again. There's no way, he thought, I made sure it was at full durability just this morning.
Israel jumped forward as he brought Silverthorne down, hacking off one of the creature's arms at the elbow as he roared.
"Get behind me!" Israel shouted, preparing his sword for a second attack.
Like hell, Jae thought, instead closing his hands into fists.
Before either of them could attack, the lizardman secured a grip on the halberd with his one remaining hand as he swung it around in an arc of before him with incredible speed
Forced to abandon their assault before it had even begun, Israel raised his sword to block the monster as Jae prepared to jump back.
And then the halberd glowed blue again.
Suddenly realizing what he had to do, Jae leapt in between the halberd and Israel's blade, praying that he could take the hit.
Though unable to stop the tip of the halberd from connecting with Israel's sword, Jae was able to take the remainder of the blow. Though the pain was immense, the impact was worse. Smashing through his chest, Jae was sent flying across the room by the blow as his leather breastplate disintegrated around him. The wind knocked out of him, Jae had to concentrate in order to get control of his blurry vision in order to check his health.
It had sunk into the red.
Hearing Israel scream in unchecked rage, Jae turned just in time to see his brother drive his sword up under the monster's chin and out through the top of its head.
Finally getting his bearings back, Jae stood up as Israel ran over to him.
"What the hell were you thinking?" He shouted.
"I had to," Jae explained hoarsely, "That blue sword skill it had...it targets item durability."
Israel took out a health crystal from his inventory. "I figured that much out when I saw your spear explode. Heal!"
His health brought back to the cusp between green and yellow, Jae waved Israel away before he could use another health crystal. "Don't waste them all on me."
Israel tilted his head irritably. "Then maybe don't go running into OP halberds next time. Heal!"
His HP fully restored, Jae bit back his anger. Would there ever be a time when Israel would just do as he was told?
"I said don't waste them on me, dammit!" Jae glanced at the other doorways, half expecting a horde of mobs to attack now that he was defenseless. "And I already told you, I had to take the hit. If I hadn't, Silverthorne would be gone too and we'd both be unarmed."
Israel pushed him angrily. "It's just a hunk of metal! I'd rather lose a fucking sword than my brother, you idiot!"
Jae was about to shout right back when he detected the unmistakable fear in Israel's voice as he continued yelling.
"If we lose our weapons, we can just teleport back! You didn't know how much damage that thing could do to us. What if it had been a bit stronger? What if you hadn't been wearing that leather armor?"
"But it wasn't, and I was." Jae replied softly. "I did the math before I took the hit man. I was confident I would survive." He left out the fact that he hadn't been expecting to lose so much health, or his breastplate.
"Honestly man, I don't give a shit about your math. Don't do that again. I'm serious."
"Alright, alright," Jae was tired of being yelled at. "I won't, ok?"
Still muttering under his breath angrily, Israel kept his sword in front of him as he looked out of each doorway.
"That thing's sword skill still hit the tip of your sword. How's the durability looking?"
Returning to the center of the room, Israel accessed his menu, swiping screens until he reached his inventory. Without looking up at Jae, he answered.
"Nearly halfway gone."
Jae's eyes widened. "And that's a super rare weapon. That mob's attack speed was insane. And that skill must've been deliberately designed to break items. Maybe it aims for the weapon's weak point, or maybe-"
"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" Israel interrupted. "We're in bad need to head back to Trevica and patch ourselves up."
Jae's heart sank. If we go back now, we might not make it back in time to help fight the Boss.
Still, there was nothing else to be done. Israel was right.
They had to go back.
"I'm sorry man," Israel said softly, "I know how badly you wanted to help these guys out."
Jae waved his words away. "Don't about it. These things happen. In a way we did help, killing that lizard mob. That thing could've killed one of them if it had the element of surprise."
Israel nodded. "You're right. I mean damn, that thing gave us both problems." He began walking out of the door they had come through. "You coming?"
Jae quickly pulled up his messages. "Yeah, I just need to let Diabel know that we're heading back so they don't come looking for us."
Typing quickly, Jae tried his best to ignore the disappointment building within him as he sent the message.
We ran into a mob with a skill that destroys weapons and armor. Too banged up to keep going. Teleporting back to fix our gear, then we'll try to meet catch up. Don't worry about hanging back, I know how important this raid is. Take down that Boss.
"Alright," Jae sighed. "This room is too small to teleport out of though, we have to step into the other one."
Israel nodded, his foot already halfway out the door. "I know, I'm just waiting on you. Can't let you out of my sight now that you're defenseless, you know?"
"Shut up," Jae said as they walked through the door together. "I'm still more dangerous than-"
Jae found himself looking down in sudden confusion as the floor opened up beneath them. Jae's spine tingled in terror as the feeling of weightlessness engulfed him. For a moment he could hear Israel crying out in shock as they both fell, and then there was nothing.