Chapter 11: Lisbeth's Confession
"Sasuke"- Speech
'Sasuke'- Thoughts
"Sasuke"- Flashbacks
"Chidori"- Sword skill/Location/player abilities
A/N: It's been soooo long.. I KNOW NO EXCUSES but stillll
I have A LOT of people wanting Sortiliena as a pairing so YOU WIN there. But something's have to happen before it can be really official, so be patient!
Made a couple of changes upon release, sorry
Reviews are welcomed :)
And I hope you all enjoy this read :)
Last Chapter:
"U-Um I just wanted to say...thanks for that earlier." Naruto smiled before he told her to come in.
"Ah it's no biggie, that guy was a real jerk so somebody had to put him in his place." Silica snickered at that.
"Well, I'll get going, and thanks again," Silica said before walking out the room.
Naruto smiled as he laid back down onto his comfy bed.
Location: Algade, 50th floor, Year 2023
There they were, standing proudly at the front entrance of the new level. Algade, 50th floor, halfway there. Upon entering, the two boys had seen how cluttered the town was. It had several alleyways that would seem like days to navigate; there were countless shops that players were unable to tell what they were selling, and inns that looked as though players could never get back out once they went in. There were no singular large structures such as in the Town of Beginnings.
Sasuke, who was next to Kirito, had one of his arm around kirito's shoulders. The two were exhausted as ever. Sasuke could hardly walk even with the help of his friend.
"Gahh," Kirito huffed out, "I really wish we had some potions right now," He wined. Sasuke nodded
" Yeah, we could really use some stamina recoveries. I'm pretty sure we can get our hands on some once we get into town," Sasuke said as he looked ahead.
"I wouldn't worry, our health and stamina should recover in a bit," Kirito reassured.
Sasuke glanced over his shoulder to see a rather medium sized guild. Out of all the guilds that he had seen, he never witnessed such an organized guild. They hardly even had a scratch on them! They all had matching outfits which were styled in red and white robes with crosses in the front.
"That guy must be the leader," Sasuke assumed. He then took his arm from around Kirito's shoulder, now feeling his health and stamina recover, and began to walk normally. Kirito looked back and saw the man Sasuke was talking about. He was a rather tall, respectable and powerful looking man. The man had long grey hair which was kept in place with the help of a hair tie, and dressed in an all red robe and more body armor than the rest of the so-called members who trekked beside him.
"Oh yeah, I've heard about them, Although I haven't really seen them in too many boss fights. Supposedly they're one of the top clearing guilds in this game," Kirito said as he glanced back. The man's eyes connected with kirio's as he smiled.
"I'll be right back, i'm going to talk to the two players up ahead," said the man in red. The players nodded before their leader walked off.
"Hey!" He shouted, getting Sasuke's and Kirito's attention. The boys stopped walking enough so that the other players weren't around them anymore. "You two had done an outstanding job with the boss last floor. I've read about you in the papers and wanted to see it in action myself. And needless to say, I'm very surprised at what you two can do." Kirito and Sasuke smirked at this. The man then proceeded to swipe down his inventory menu and pulled out an all-in-one potion, which was rare to acquire in the game. The two potions then fizzled into existence before handing them to Kirito and Sasuke..
"Thanks a bunch, oh, and I've heard about your guild as well, I see it from time to time in the papers. It's nice to have some good support out on the battlefield," Kirito said before gulping down the potion with Sasuke doing the same. In an instant their health points, stamina, and CG recovered one hundred percent.
Sasuke then huffed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for this…" Sasuke took a second to glance at the player's name but couldn't find it. Seeing this, the man cleared his throat before speaking again.
"My name is Heathcliff, I'm the leader of K.O.B or otherwise known as Knights of the Blood," he proudly stated. Sasuke took another glance back at his guild.
'Their armour…'
Such a high level armor for each individual member. From remembering certain articles that Sasuke had read in the past, even on the lower floor levels, they still had the same looking armor. 'Hm..' He thought. However, he never remembered seeing or rather hearing about them until after floor 30...
"I have an offer for you two…how about you join my guild? We could really use your skills, seeing how powerful you two are," he paused for a second and rubbed his chin with his hand. "You two are solo players, correct?" Both of the boys nodded their heads
"Yeah we are, but sorry, I'll have to decline your offer. Thanks though," Kirito said, rubbing the back of his head, trying to make it not sound so awkward.
"I agree," Sasuke simply responded. Heathcliff closed his eyes and nodded in an understanding manner.
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you two, and if you change your mind, then don't hesitate to find me. Good luck to the both of you, and who knows, maybe we'll meet again." The man patted both of their shoulders and returned to his guild.
"Yo, Kirito, lets head back to get the others," Sasuke said, stopping kirito in his tracks.
30 minutes later
Location: Lindarth, Floor 48
"Hey, Kirito, did you notice that?" Sasuke asked.
"About Heathcliff and his guild?"
"Yeah," he paused, "they've only recently started publicly showing themselves. I wonder how they've trained...maybe they have private training grounds?" Sasuke guessed while kicking a pebble on the ground. The pebble had landed ahead of kirito before he kicked it over in front of Sasuke.
"Waint, Isn't Asuna apart of their guild ?" Sasuke asked, throwing Kirito off. He had completely forgot that she joined their ranks a while back. Kirito simply nodded his head.
"Yeah don't mention it, he huffed.
A couple minutes went by before kirito broke the silence between them. "I'm mean, we could be overthinking it. For all we know, he'll probably plan on asking us to join his ranks again," Kirito said before pulling a yawn-stretch combo. "Would you ever want to join them?"
Sasuke chuckled and said, "I think I'll pass. Seems too formal and proper for me. I think you, Sortiliena and I are fine as a 'team'... Oh, and the same with the blonde haired kid." Sasuke began to look up as he tried to remember his name. He was never really good with names anyways. Seeing this, Kirito shook his head.
"His name is Naruto..."
"Tch, I knew that," the Uchiha sarcastically responded.
"Wait, are we really a team?!" The black swordsman gleefully asked, even though he was late on the subject. "I remember on the first floor you were all like, 'I'm gonna become a solo player blah blah, I suggest you become one blah blah you can't change my mind blah blAH'," Kirito mocked. Sasuke's eyebrow started to twitch with every "blah" Kirito blurted out.
Sasuke deadpanned before responding. "Well I also said 'we will meet again when we're stronger' now didn't I?" He was speaking through his teeth at this point. "And besides, I think we make a pretty good team..." Sasuke paused when a thought entered his mind, but shook it off. "Anyways, where did you say the others stayed at?" Sasuke asked as he pulled out the town map. The two players had made their way near the entrance of the town and heard music being played in the distance.
(Add music: Fairy Tail Nigiyaka na Machi Ost - Extended)
Ah Lindarth, It was a very lively medieval village-town. They saw fellow players, as well as, NPCs, working in markets and bakeries selling whole foods, meats, and pastries. All this was accompanied with live music being played by local NPCs. Some of the players were laughing and dancing all around, swinging what looked like large beer mugs in the air as they twist and turned their hips to the music. The accordion and violin were to blame for their tapping toes and such, but hell, who cares?! They were having a damn good time that's for sure. The spacious city had stone paved roads with large trees planted in regular spaces along it. Due to the waterways and canals running beside the houses, quite a few buildings in the town have water wheels, some even more than 1, which makes the town ideal for support-class shops, like bakeries, tailor shops and smith shops.
Most of the players stood around eyeballing the two solo players. Some happy some not. A Lot of the male players envied their skills and abilities, especially Sasuke's, which is why he stopped using chidori or chidori spear as much. He didn't feel like dealing with all the reporters and info brokers. On the other hand, most of the female players were in awe, some were daring each other to walk up to Sasuke or Kirito to talk to them or even ask them out. Sasuke had long black hair which only came down to about his chin. His hair was parted so only one eye was visible. So seeing this, the girls could easily distinguish him from any other player around. Kirito also had the same length black hair, however, he seemed more mysterious which made them want to know even more about him.
"Let's check over in the southern district area, I believe Asuna told me Liz had set up shop there." Kirito had to almost shout as they were walking by the local band. Out of the blue, he leaped out of the way, barley missing a splash of beer from a player's mug. "Hey, idiot, watch it!" Kirito shouted. Just then, a NPC had jumped out in front of him and Sasuke. "Hey there! Would you like to try some of our fresh garlic bread?!" An NPC shouted. The two waved their hands and politely declined their offer.
"Get your hot and fresh tomato bisque soup here!" Another NPC shouted, gaining Sasuke's attention. The succulent smell of tomatoes had infiltrated his nostrils. He knew anything with tomatoes was his ultimate weakness...well that and a certain colored eyed girl. Sasuke immediately cleared his throat, gaining his cool again before looking back over at kirito.
"I have to try this out, the other levels don't serve this type of food." The boy could hardly talk since his mouth was salivating. Kirito snickered before they went in the restaurant and was seated.
Come to think of it, Eating was about the only pleasure to be found in the world of SAO...well that and the music. Most of the available food seemed to be in a rustic European style-simple breads and soups and bakery shops. The tiny minority of crafters who chose to utilize the cooking skill could create other dishes in order to expand player's options, but given how few of those cooks were actually good, and the surprisingdifficulty of obtaining good cooking ingredients, nearly all the players in the game were perpetually starving for quality food. Luckily Sasuke and the others had Asuna, whom fully mastered her cooking skills. Kirito felt especially happy for that so whenever he was with her, she would always take him on a lunch date when they weren't busy clearing floors or EXP farming. Yeah without her, they'd surely be screwed.
"Hey there! Is there anything else i can get you two?" The NPC asked; Her smile as wide as ever.
"Nah, I think that's all," Kirito responded before indulging in his delicious and juicy roasted chicken. Sighs and ahhs of satisfactory released from the boy's mouths as a result from their delicious meal.
"Who knew pixels tasted this good," Sasuke moaned out, rubbing his belly in the process with Kirito doing the same. The two finished their meal, payed for it, and left out to head for lisbeth's shop.
Location: Lisbeth's shop
"Sooo she just left apparently," Kirito said while staring at the "closed" sign on the shop's window.
"They must be back at your place, Kirito."
Kirito sighed. "What I would give for a damn fast travel right now."
The two boys were walking along the long stoned pavement, admiring the nice cool night time breeze flowing through their black hair. Out of nowhere, Kirito interrupted the silence with a light chuckle. Sasuke looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.
"What's so funny?" He asked. Kirito glanced over at him once more and started laughing even harder. Sasuke sweatdropped and frowned.
"Oh..oh..It's just that im remembering when we were both in the beta test and i was showing you how to use a sword for the first time," Kirito recalled, finishing his giggle fit.
(Flashback)
""Hya...arrg...hyaa!" Sasuke cried out.
The strained eyes were paired with desperate sword swipes, the blade swishing through nothingness. The blue boar charged its attacker, nimbly evading his slashes despite its massive bulk. As Kirito watched as the beast's horned snout threw Sasuke skyward, eventually hitting the ground before rolling across the field, he couldn't help laughing his ass off.
"Ha-ha-ha..I think you almost got him, Sasuke!" Kirito jokingly called out.
"Tch...Hairy bastard," Sasuke grumbled as he rubbed his buttcheeks. "This stupid beast seems to really like my ass."
Kirito, leaned down to the grass, scooped up a rock, and held it above his shoulder. The system recognized this motion as the initiation of a sword skill, and the stone began glowing a faint green. The rest nearly happened automatically. His left hand flashed, and the rock traced a bright arc through the air, striking the blue boar between its eyes. The swine utterted a squeal of rage and turned to Kirito.
"As long as you initiate the motion and get the sword skill off correctly, the system will ensure that it hits the target."
"Motion...motion…"
Sasuke muttered the word like a spell. Waving his sword in his left hand.
"HYAA!" Sasuke shouted at the ugly boar.
"Don't be so loud idiot!"
"GAHH!..."
To Sasuke's luck, the boar heard his battle cry and knocked his sword back. As the sword was flipping on the ground Sasuke was sent flying through the air, following the path of the sword. Out of nowhere the sword bounced up and impaled his own body.
"I hate you-" Those were the last of the poor Uchiha's words before shattering into pixelated glass. At the time, dying wasn't a big deal, since he'd simply revive at the nearby starting town, but they'd have to trek all the way back to the hunting grounds again.
Kirito was rolling on the ground, dying of laughter. Being distracted by laughing the boar saw this as an opportunity to strike Kirito. The beast slowly creeped up and charged with it's horn pointed at his rear. What happened next was not so pleasant…
"AH WHAT THE-" The boar's horn struck in between Kirito's butt cheeks, certainly the most uncomfortable thing that's ever happened to him. A feminine like scream ripped through the air, distracting nearby players.
Meanwhile...
"So how did you get killed?" Sasuke asked, Trying not to bust out laughing.
"I REALLY don't want to talk about it…"
(Flashback End)
"You know to this very day i still don't know how you got kil-"
"AND YOU WON'T EVER FIND OUT!" Kirito's whole face glowed a bright red. Little puffs of steam was exiting out of his nostrils with each flare. The Uchiha saw this and chuckled.
"We were both noobs at that point of the game...so embarrassing.." Sasuke took a moment to look up at the star filled sky. "Y'know, we both have came a long way, Kirito."
The beater nodded his in agreement.
"Yeah, true, we both got a lot stronger." Kirito smiled. "We both made a promise back then and I'm really glad we stuck to it. Now the only thing left to do is to protect our friends and beat this death trap." Gleaming with a look of determination, Sasuke smiled at Kirito.
"New vow, let's become the strongest in the game...nothing will stop us." Sasuke held his hand outward towards his friend, with Kirito doing the same. The intention behind of their stares was as plain as day.
"You know, before I met you, I had no friends. The only thing left that was close to me was my brother. He was my everything, whether is was him helping me with my training, or advice on school, he was always there to help me. My only friend really. When he was killed, I didn't know what to do and...I was on the verge of giving up everything. But the day I met you and Lisbeth... both of you seemed different from the others. I'm not really good at this sappy stuff but I'm glad to have met you Kirito, thanks for sticking by me."
"Ah I'm gonna cry!" Kirito cried out. "No but seriously, I can say the same. After my parents were killed in an accident. Because of this I was very distant from a lot of people. I even cut off close friends in the past...but i started recovering and eventually bumping into you. And well, the rest was history."
"Oh if it ain't Kirito! Long time no see bud!"
Their little "moment" was interrupted by a player up ahead of them. He had spiky red hair that was kept in place with a bandanna. He used red robes and black armor resembling those of a samurai including a katana, along with his guild members. The guy looked like he was in his early 20s.
"Oh you're still alive, Klein?." Klein ran up to the beater and immediately have him a small noogie. Kirito frowned before fixing his now messed up hair.
"I see you're bad with words as usual."
"You just came back from a quest yeah? I can tell because you guys got an upgrade on your armour. Beats the old crappy equipment you used to have." Klein just laughed at this
"So how are things with you-know-who?" Klein leaned over and began nudging Kirito's side with his elbow, trying to make him say it out loud. But the amount of embarrassment was preventing him to do so.
"Tch, sh-shut up idiot. That's none of your damn business that's for sure," he huffed. Kirito turned away with his arms folded. But was getting more irritated by the fact that his stupid guild buddies were cheering Klein on. Just then, Klein glanced over at Sasuke. Both looked similar, but Sasuke had longer hair.
"Huh? I thought you were a solo player?"
"Um… well I'm pretty sure you've seen him from some boss fights, but I'll introduce you anyways. "His name in Klein, and he's the leader of his guild, Fuurinkazan. And he's Sasuke, a solo player like me."
"Wait, I think that's the 'Raijin' everyone is talking about!" One of Klein's guild members shouted.
"Yeah you're right!"
"Oh shit it is!"
Klein blinked twice at this. "Holy crap! it is you isn't it? Well I'll be damn, it's a pleasure to meet you again young man! There's been a lot of talk about you since we last met," Klein said as he walked up to Sasuke. However, despite the fact that he'd just met the kid, he was already irked that a lot of women were giggling when he overheard them talking about the "Raijin"
"Hey if it's not too much-"
"If you're thinking about asking me to join your guild, then no thanks," The Uchiha bluntly interrupted. Klein sweatdropped at this.
"Hehehe alright alright, but if ya ever around, give it some consideration would ya?" Klein proceed to wave his hand, opening up his menu
Klein would like to add you a friend
Accept/Decline
"Well I'll be going now, we have some exp to earn." Just as he and his guild buddies were walking off, Klein stopped. "Oh and Kirito...Sasuke...stay alive...I don't care how you do it, but just stay alive all the way to the end of this damned game." With that the group had made their way off into town.
"He seems...cool...I guess." Sasuke smirked.
"Tsk, yeah even though he can be a real pervert and idiot, he's a friendly guy."
"When did you meet him?"
"Back when the game first came out actually, so not too long ago. I was running through town and he stopped me. He asked me a bunch of questions so I just decided to help him out. A real A class noob on first day launch," he giggled, "Then later on, he tried logging out and...eh you know what happened next. But anyways, I asked him to join me but he declined. Then later on that's when I ran into you-" He paused for second before coming to a realization. "Come to think of it, you reached a good exp farming area before anyone else...I see someone's been doing their studying." Kirito smirked and squinted his eyes.
"Yeah, if it wasn't for you, who knows what would've happened." The Raijin sweatdropped, remembering how he almost got slaughtered.
(Add music: Sword Art Online Original Soundtrack Vol 1 30, with my friend)
About an hour or so past before Kirito and Sasuke finally made it back to the home they rented.
*WAM* The front front door was violently opened, revealing an angry Asuna.
"Where have you two Idiots been?! Kirito, you've gotten my message right? I said to hurry home because dinner was getting cold. This can only last so long y'know," She nagged. A small chibi version of herself was breathing fire and waving her arms like a crazy hummingbird.
"S-sorry about that, hehe, we just got caught up with a lot of things is all," Kirito sweatdropped, trying to calm Asuna down. After about five minutes or so of her nagging she finally took a deep breath and fixed herself up.
"Well, I suppose that's okay," she let out a sigh, "Just tell me if you're going to be late or something jeez, I was beginning to worry." Kirito smiled and pulled Sasuke closed to him with his arm over the uchiha's shoulders.
"What's there to worry about when this guy is with me?" He chuckled.
"Tch, shut up loser, we have you as well."
"Big brother! I missed you! A familiar voice shouted. Just then a little girl came running out of the house at full speed and wrapped her arms around Sasuke.
"Oh hey Yuta, how've you been?" Although he didn't show it on the outside, he sure was grinning as wide as ever on the inside.
"I've been great big brother! Quick come inside and look at my drawings!" She grabbed his hand and rushed him inside.
"Awe she's soooo sweet," Asuna said, "my heart melts everytime.
"Yeah she's adorable alright." Kirito and Asuna finally made their way back into the house. Both of them swiped open their menu and changed out of their gear and into their house clothes. Kirito released a big yawn just as he was greeted with the food Asuna made earlier. In an instant his mouth began to water. Over in the distance, Yuta was showing her drawings of all the stick figures that looked like, Kirito, Sasuke, Lisbeth, and Asuna. Sasuke smiled and took the picture before putting it on the fridge.
"So did you get any info on where Yuta's sister is? Asuna said in a seemingly calm tone before sitting down and pulling out tea from her inventory.
"Hm, no, not that I know of. I don't want to ask anyone and have them be suspicious of us. And on top of that, I don't really trust some of these info-brokers either."
"I see." Asuna paused to take a couple sips of her tea. "I've even tried taking Yuta to the spot where you told me you found her, Sasuke, and still nothing. She can't seem to remember much still."
"I've started to notice a pattern actually. After we cleared each floor, she started to remember more little by little. From her favorite color to her Sister's name. It's not much, but anything helps," the Raijin stated.
"Agreed," Asuna replied before taking one last sip of her tea. "Well definitely keep me and Kirito posted, we'll help as much as we can."
"How's everything with the Knights of the Blood?" Kirito asked, completely changing the subject. Kirito wouldn't admit it but he was a little jealous that Asuna actually joined a guild. He didn't think she'd literally take his word for it back on the first floor.
(Flashback)
"You can become powerful here on your own. But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down, 'cause there are limits to what a solo player can do."
(Flashback end)
And not just any guild, it was the freaking Knights of the Blood, one of the most respected guilds and if not, the best guild in the whole game. Even though they only had about thirty or so players, they were all high leveled and seasoned warrior badasses, with the leader being the strongest of course.
"It's going great actually. I moved up a rank," Asuna nervously said.
"What are you now?" Sasuke asked. She was silent for a bit.
"Well...I'm the sub-leader now, hehe." Sasuke and Kirito nearly spat out their tea.
"Woah what?! Sub-leader?" Kirito and Sasuke questioned in unison. As surprising this sounded, they wouldn't doubt it, contrary to her delicate frame, her sword skill was so exceptional that it had earned her the title "Flash". However, it would have been strange for her not to have become famous. She had numerous fans, but among them there were some stalkers who virtually worship her, *cough* Klein *cough*, and there were also those who hate her, so at times, it seemed that she was having a hard time going out in public. On the other hand, due to Sasuke's and Kirito's rep, they didn't give a damn what anyone thought, they mainly had a female fanbase anyways.
Since she was already a top class warrior, there wouldn't be that many that would challenge her directly. Since the guild wanted to show that they would protect her, she'd often got trailed by two or more bodyguards.
"Yup! So now I'm technically your superior." She definitely made that clear, with her triumphant tone and all, thinking about all the times Kirito and Sasuke told her what to do during boss fights. She couldn't wait to boss them around in assault raid meetings. A little reenactment popped in her head with her laughing all evil like with Sasuke and Kirito in front of her bowing. In an instant, her little daydream was interrupted by Sasuke's snicker.
"Tch, yeah whatever, I'm still stronger and faster than you," Sasuke stated, in a matter-of-fact tone. Asuna frowned and immediately grabbed a butter knife before it glowed a bright pink. She instantly jumped across the table and stopped right before Sasuke's face. The force of the motion blew his hair back, all without even flinching.
"Alright, alright, you win." Sasuke put his hands up in a surrender motion, not wanting any conflict. 'phew'. She smirked proudly, before twirling the knife around her fingers.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, idiot." She released a sigh and plumped right back where she was seated. "Only downside is that now, im also responsible for progressing through the game in the guild, so that means I have to participate in a lot more floor clearing duties." She stopped through her sentence right before a mischievous smirk etched itself across her face. "This job also includes searching out selfish solo players like you two idiots and forming a party to fight bosses.
"Tch"
They weren't really worried about that. To actually come to see the boys, there would have be a limit to how devoted a person could be...right?
"Oh and speaking of Knights of the Blood, guess who I ran into?" Kirito asked. Asuna had her eyebrows raised before responding.
"Who?"
"Heathcliff. After we cleared floor 50, he came up to us and offered Sasuke and I to joined his guild."
"Did you accept?" Asuna smiled, hoping that the boys declined his offer. She already knew it was gonna be a pain in the ass.
"Nah, I told him Sasuke and I are solo players and would rather stay like that. But It's not like we'll never show up during floor clearing sessions so there's nothing to worry about," Kirito said before yawing. "Man, I'm beat, think I'm gonna call it a night." Kirito stood up and shimmied his way to his room.
Yuta also released a yawn. Seeing this, Sasuke picked her up carried her to the little sleeping area he prepared for her. He set her down, covered her up with a blanket and patted her head.
"Oh and tomorrow, let's do some exp farming. It'll be nice to gain some exp for a bit." Hearing this, Asuna held her head down.
"S-sorry I can't. Tomorrow is the day I have to be with the guild. As a matter of fact, I can't really leave for a while." Kirito blinked twice at this.
"Ah, well that's okay then, it's no big deal, hehe. By the way, where is Naruto, Lisbeth and Sortelina? I haven't heard from naruto, or Sortelina, and Lisbeth's shop was closed when we stopped by earlier."
"Naruto messaged me a yesterday and said he'll be back in a couple days. He said something about helping another player revive her tamed monster. And..." Asuna swiped for her menu and went to her messages. "Unfortunately, Sortelina said she will no longer accompany us. She said she's going to continue to explore other floors while she can. I told her if she needs anything, then just message me anytime." Kirito and Sasuke nodded and understood.
"As for Lisbeth-" Asuna was interrupted by the front door opening.
"Oh Lisbeth, great timing!" Asuna jumped from the couch and greeted Lisbeth with a big hug. "Where have you been? We were just talking about you."
"Just working on my blacksmith skills. I'm almost at max skill exp so I closed my shop early. Figured I could use the extra time to work on it down below," Lisbeth said as she closed the door. Her cheek were all dirtied up from what seemed like coal stains. Her pink hair was ruffled and stained as well. Her white apron had been torn or slashed and her sleeves on her blacksmith uniform were damp, probably due to wiping sweat from her forehead. They could obviously tell she had been working hard all day.
"Awe that's great girl, I'm so proud of you! Hard Work can pay off y'know? Well, it's nice seeing you but im about to head for bed, I have a long day tomorrow with the guild." The girls waved each other off. Lisbeth immediately noticed Sasuke Sitting on the couch reading a book and quickly ran to the bathroom to freshen up.
(Add music: Sword Art Online Original Soundtrack Vol 1 26, a tiny love)
Lisbeth finally sat down before letting out a big sigh. Her thoughts about a certain boy had raced throughout her mind all day. 'I have to...I know I didn't imagine it, the warmth of his hands... the way I feel...As soon as I get him alone...I'll tell him.' The warmth of the water kissed her forehead as she relaxed deeper and deeper. She knew she had major feelings for Sasuke and could't wait to tell him any longer. The whole time she was in the shower she kept playing scenarios in her head. She felt something the first time she laid eyes on him back at dicey café. He was so cool, calm, and collected through all their situations. And on top of that, he was so attractive and fit. Often times she would wonder about his body in the real world and that if it would be the exact same as it is in this game. Finally done with showering, Lisbeth dried herself off. She put her white hair ties back in her hair in a cute manner before swiping down her menu to change into her lounge clothes. As she made her way into the living room she saw that Sasuke was still reading a book.
"Whatcha readin'?" She asked; not really curious at all but wanted to make small talk.
"Hey Lisbeth,' he calmly said. "Just stuff about the game and more info on where some good exp farming spots are on the new map."
"O-oh..that's cool." She could hardly get her words out. Her heart was fluttering at about ninety miles an hour. "Hey, Sasuke? Would you like to go on a walk with me?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Sure."
About fifteen minutes had past and still not one word was said between the two. Even though Sasuke didn't mind the silence, Lisbeth was there twiddling her fingers; almost too nervous to confess. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Sasuke broke the silence.
"Hey...Lisbeth.." Lisbeth snapped out of her daze and focused her attention to Sasuke.
"Y-yeah?"
"I just want to thank you for helping me along with my mission a few floors back. The sword you crafted… It's a real one of a kind. I don't even think it's in the info brokers' directory. Felt like you put your soul into it. Everytime I used it in battle, it always feels like you're there with me. I've never got a chance to repay you back," Sasuke said, focusing his obsidian eyes on her. She stopped walking along with Sasuke doing the same. A light blush formed on her face.
"Um, well... I don't really need any... money...I-Instead, I'd like to be your exclusive blacksmith from now on."
"What do you mean?"
I mean I-I...well what I mean is I would like-" she paused, "I would like to be yours"
"Mine? Sasuke answered back."
"Yes, your girlfri-". Sasuke stared at her for a minute. Totally caught off guard at what she said to him, he took a step back, but before he could move any further, she grabbed his sleeve. Both of them stood there, gazing into each others eyes for about a minute or two. He then removed her hand from his sleeve, closed his eyes, and smiled for a bit. Seeing this, Lisbeth smiled back. Sasuke raised his fingers up and poked her on the forehead.
'I told myself I didn't have time for love in this game.'
"I think I've fallen in love...with you.." Lisbeth finally said.
"..." Sasuke didn't even know what to say. It's not like he promised himself that he wouldn't love in the game, but even so...he met her in the real world first, so it might be different?
"I said, I think I've fallen-"
"I heard you the first time, it's just that it caught me by surprise that's all. Besides, I'm not really good at this 'love' thing. I've never really had a...girlfriend before, but..." At this point he was just making up excuses. Sasuke stopped to look into her pink eyes. Much different than the ones she had in the real world, yet, it somehow fit her look. His facial expression changed into a more serous look before finishing his sentence. "...Sorry, not now. I still have a lot of things I need to figure out. And besides, you're not strong enough, so you'll only get in my way," he said bluntly. Lisbeth gasped at this. Tears started to form within the corner of her eyes. Her grip steadily loosed from his sleeve before falling by her side.
"Maybe I could train to get stronger? Yeah that's right, I'll do that..and...and..." She couldn't contain her tears any longer. As soon as she started to run away, Sasuke flashed in front of her, gazing at her with his obsidian eyes.
"Don't run away. I understand your feelings towards me, but not now. And don't bother becoming stronger," he demanded, showing no emotion behind what he said.
"That's not really helping."
"What I'm saying is, don't bother being stronger because you've given your whole time and efforts into becoming the best blacksmith in this game. It'd be a waste dammit and I wont allow you to throw all of that away. You're one of my best friends in this game so shouldn't you be supporting me?" She didn't want to admit it but he was right. But she wanted him of all things but she just couldn't have him right now. Lisbeth wished she had never told him.
"Lisbeth..."
"I'm fine, really. The 'getting over it' part, that's gonna take a while. Until I do, promise me... promise me you put an end to this world," she said as she focused her vision at the sky.
"I promise. I will put an end to all of this." Lisbeth finally smiled after she wiped all her tears away.
"Till then, I'll keep doing what I do best. If you ever need your weapons or gear repaired, my door is always open!"
"That's what I like to hear. and thank you, It's an honor. Come on, I have a big day of training tomorrow. We should get some rest."
The next day
Location: Floor 47
"Wow! This place is like a dream!" Silica exclaimed. Naruto and Silica finally arrived to the town area of floor 47. Their eyes were soothed by the vast colors of different flowers that spreaded across the level grounds. Flower pedals constantly floated through the air in every direction making the level have a wonderful sweet scent to it.
Naruto smiled. "Yeah the whole floor is covered in flowers. There's not really a specific name for it yet, so everyone just calls it the 'flower garden'." However, Silica was too enraptured by the level's beauty to even pay attention to what the blonde boy was saying. She chuckled with joy as she ran over to some nearby flowers.
"Oh wow! These are so pretty!" She was internally screaming at this point, hardly taking in the sheer amount of beauty. As she was looking around her gaze immediately focused on all the players who seemed to be in pairs.
'Couples?!'
In an instant, her whole face turned red, looking back and forth between the blonde haired kid and the couples. Naruto saw her little panicked and snickered before squatting next to her. He slowly whispered in her ear, "Silica?"
"Whaa?!" She squealed. She shot up from the ground in a flash and patted the pollen of her gear. Naruto chuckled with a wide toothed smile.
"What's wrong Silica?" Naruto asked, knowing damn well what she was flustered about. From seeing all the couples around, there had to be at least thirty couples!
"What?! Nothing! Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"You suuure?"
"Uh, yeah! It's Nothing, nothing at all," she stuttered, waving her hands in front of her.
Naruto giggled at this. "Come on, let's get your friend back." Silica finally calmed down before a warm smile grew across her face.
"Okay!"
About 20 minutes had past during Naruto's and Silica's journey to the hill of memories. Countless times Naruto had to keep stopping so that Silica could look at flowers along the rocky road. It's not like she could pick them because they'd just bust into pixels afterwards. The only way for her to even get flowers was at a local flower shop in town, but what would be the fun in that?
"You see that?" Naruto said as he pointed out. There was a huge cliff-like edge sitting off into the distance, connecting to the brick path they were walking on. On top of it was a mini forest. "If we take this path, it'll lead us right to the Hill of Memories." Silica's face lit of with joy but also thought of a question afterwards.
"Hey, Naruto? What if something bad happens? Like if we run into a scary garden monster...I think we should teleport out of here with a crystal."
"Oh a teleportation crystal? I think I have one of those. Gimme a sec." Naruto quickly pulled out his inventory before sweat dropping. 'Dammit, I have nothing!...Except...' He sighed after he put his menu away.
"Eh, who needs 'em, and besides, nothing bad will happen anyways," He nervously chuckled but also trying to seem as chilled as possible. Silica squinted her eyes in suspicion at him. But before she could even call him out, the ground started to rumble beneath their feet..
"Naruto, I'm not an idio- WOAAH"
In an instant, two vines wrapped around her legs. A Garish Gerbera had appeared out of nowhere. The head of the flower resembled a yellow sunflower with a wide mouth and several pointy teeth. It had two vines sprouting from either side of its body that it uses similar to how animals use their arms.
The flower monster lifted Silica and turned her upside down in the air causing her skirt to to fall. Silica blushed and quickly caught her skirt, trying to not let the blonde see any of her giant flower opened its mouth, letting out its giant tongue.
"AHH, LET ME GO!" She screamed. Silica frantically began to swing her dagger around at nothing, not even close to making contact with the arm-like vines.
"Calm down! … It's not even that strong." Naruto almost couldn't contain himself.
"Naruto save me! But don't look! But save me! But don't look!"
"Um..that'll be a little challenging." Naruto had one of his eyes covered.
"Darn you! Put me down, now!" After a while, she finally got enough momentum from her sporadic swings, causing her body to swing back and forth to each vine that was holding her. She then cleanly cut off one before swinging to the other and cutting it off. Distracted by the pain, the giant mutant flower held its head down. Silica, whom was still swinging her dagger, somehow managed activated her sword skill and killed the Garish Gerberaby stabbing it in the head. The ugly bastard released a final growl before exploding into glass like pixels.
Congratulations!
LV UP! Silica
44►45
Despite almost being killed, she still wondered if he ever saw her you-know-what...
"D-Did you see anything?" She asked, holding her hand over her skirt.
"N-not really, c'mon we're almost there."
Along the way, they stopped several times either to fight some garden type mini boss or to look at certain flowers. At one point two giant Venus fly trap monster appeared on either side of the road. Silica was a little scared but Naruto smiled and patted her on her head before he simply unsheathed his sword. He merely walked in front of them and struck each on the head. While the monsters where dazed Naruto turned to Silica and explained how they weren't as bad as she thought. With a look of determination, she jumped up and easily sliced through the heads of the mutant venus fly trap. She was actually surprised at this. To the blonde's surprise, she was really good with her dagger. One strike after another she took more monsters down along their journey.
The farther they got, the less work Naruto had to do, seeing how quickly she was leaning and how excited she had gotten with each kill.
'Oh wow, she's actually pretty amazing!' He mentally exclaimed.
"Hey! You're pretty good y'know? Where'd you learn all this Silica?"
"Thanks! And well...um.." She looked down at the ground, remembering how players would treat her.
"Huh? What's up?"
"Well, you see... it's just that everyone doesn't take me seriously. They want me as some sort of mascot or something so I haven't really tried fighting in front of anyone. I mainly just practice by myself."
"Tsk, Idiots! Don't listen to those fools. Besides, you're totally helpful and behind all that cuteness, you're crazy strong!" Silica was caught off guard by this.
"Wh-what did you say?" Silica questioned, totally taken surprise.
"Huh?"
"What did you say?" She asked again.
"No, what did you say?" The blonde boy asked, trying to be slick. Silica deadpanned.
"Hmph, whatever," she pouted. Naruto snickered. "I just hope we don't run into that meanie again," Silica said, remembering her first encounter with Rosalia. She was a sly woman who used her beauty and charms to attract potential players for her guild to ambush. She was very selfish Silica when she first joined her team. Rosalia always drained her of her healing crystals, special items, and other potions that monsters would drop. She finally had enough of it and quit out of her party.
"Hey look over there," Naruto pointed out. Just up ahead was a floating slab of rock at the end of their path.
"Is that the reviving flower?!" Her heart raced. She knew that she would finally get her friend back. 'Pina, I'll see you soon!' She quickly ran up to the glowing rock with Naruto close behind. As soon as she arrived, the slab started to glow. A beautiful flower started to emerge from the surface before blooming its pedals.
"Go ahead, pick it up." She smiled as wide as ever when she held it close.
"You sure it will bring Pina back to life?" She asked
"Of course! We wouldn't be here if it wouldn't silly. C'mon there are some pretty strong monsters lurking around here, let's revive it when we get back to town. I'm sure Pina would want it that way."
One hour later
Naruto and Silica had just about reached the end of their journey. It had been quite a long day of fighting monsters and sightseeing. Silica, smiling the whole way, couldn't stop staring at the Pneuma Flower, now closer to revive Pina. Just then, Naruto's ear started to twitch automatically.
(Add music: Sword Art Online Original Soundtrack Vol 1 23, a narrow escape)
Without warning, Naruto put his arm in front of Silica, stopping her in her tracks. "Alright, enough playing hide and seek, you can come out now," he said to nothing. A female player with red hair came from behind a nearby tree and revealed herself.
"If you saw through my hiding skill so easy, your detection skill must be really high, swordsman," she snickered.
"Sooo lame. I didn't know hiding could be a skill," Naruto taunted with a toothed grin.
"I'd watch your mouth if I were you, boy." The girl's eyes then focused on the rare flower that Silica was holding. "Ooh, it looks like you were successful getting your hands on the Pneuma Flower. I should congratulate you for doing all the work for me." She held out her hand. "Now, hand it over before you get hurt," she demanded. Naruto made his way in front of Silica.
"Eh, nah. No one's handing anything over, Rosalia. Not to you, or the orange guild. Or should I say Titan's Hand? I mean, you are the leader, right?" Rosalina just scoffed
"Wow someone's been doing their homework I see," Rosalina said after she put her hands on her hips.
"But wait, Naruto, she has a green curser, what do you mean by orange guild?" Silica asked.
"It's a simple trick. The green members, like herself, find their victims, then they lure them straight to the orange players for the ambush." Silica's eyes widen from realization.
"Th-then, the reason you were in that party with me and the others was to…"
"Bingo. I was observing their skills, watching them earn all that beautiful money." She paused before licking her lips in a seductive manner. "You were the one I was excited about and I was. so sad when you left the party," she fake pouted. "But then you told me you were getting a rare item. What I want to know is, if you knew about us, why did you bring her here? Are you dumb?
Or does she have you wrapped around her little finger?" Naruto chuckled.
"Wrong and wrong. I've been looking for you so In a way, you actually brought yourself to me. Thanks for doing all the work for me," he mocked. "Probably the biggest mistake you made since you've started doing all this."
"Looking for me? What are you talking about?"
"Couple days ago you and your little guild buddies attacked a guild...Silver Fangs to be exact. The leader survived, but the four of his members were killed."
"Ah yes those losers...whatever, they weren't of any use to me anyways, they had no money." Naruto heard this and balled up hist fist.
"Day and night, he went to different floors in hopes that someone would help him. With tears in his eyes, he begged everyone to avenge his dead friends. Do you have any idea how he felt?" Rosalina tapped her finger on her chin as if she was actually trying to find a reason to care
"Hm, no, can't say I do. Only idiots take this game seriously. So what if we kill someone here? There's no proof dying here means you're dead in real life," She responded. "Anyways, enough chit chat, we have places to go, things to take care of." She brought up her hand and snapped her fingers, signaling for some of the orange guild players to step out from hiding, about seven of them in total. They all had orange cursors above their heads.
"There's too many of them, W-we should go!" Silica shouted.
"It's okay I have this." Naruto proceed to pull out a crystal, warp crystal to be exact. "Look, as much fun it would be, I really don't feel like fighting you guys. My client spent his entire fortune on this warp crystal, and he'll get his money's worth. It's been set to the coordinates of the prison. And I'm sending all of you bastards there!" Naruto held up the warp crystal for everyone to see. Rosalina, not knowing what to do, took a step back in frustration.
"W-what the hell you idiots?! Kill him alrea…!" Before she could even get her words out, Naruto took out his sword and zipped passed all of her guild members, stopping just short from slicing her head clean off.
"I-I-I have a green cursor, if you hurt me youll-"
"You think I care going orange for a couple of days? Try me, I dare you," he grumbled. Submitting to her defeat she slowly lowered her weapon before dropping it on the ground with her guild members doing the same.
Later that day
"Hey Silica? I'm really sorry that I kinda used you as bait to catch these guys. I really hope you understand. I thought you'd be mad if I told you the truth," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. Silica looked up at Naruto and smiled before replying.
"Mad? I can never be mad at you...'cause you're a good person. You've helped me get this flower to revive Pina, and on top of that, you've taught me some awesome fight tricks! Thanks for helping me." Naruto smiled at this and patted her head causing Silica to blush.
"It's no problem, honest. I love helping people now. Slowly but surely I'm changing my ways and becoming a better person than I was before." Silica raised her eyebrows at this, but before she could ask what he meant, Naruto stood up from the bedside they were sitting on.
"I think it's time to revive your friend, don't ya think?" He said with a grin on his face and his hands on his hips.
"Yeah!" Silica quickly pulled out a feather, following the flower as well. She slowly held the flower above the feather and watched as the nectar from its center drip out onto the feather. As soon as that happened, the feather glowed a bright light. Filling the whole room. Just then, the miniature dragon immediately appeared from the bright light and began flying all over the room.
"Pina!" Silica joyfully shouted. Pina flew into Silica's arms and hugged each other, twirling around in circles."Oh Pina I'm so glad you're back! Look, this is my friend, Naruto, he helped me save you! If it wasn't for him you wouldn't be here." Pina Turned towards Naruto before tackling him on the ground to lick all over his face."
"I-I th-think your friend likes me," Naruto said as he released a giggle here and there. "Quit it! That tickles!"
"Pina does likes you!" Silica chuckled. Pina finally released itself from naruto's faced and flew around before landing on top of Silica's head.
"Do you really have to go, Naruto?" Silica asked.
"Sorry, but yeah I promised my party that I'd join them in the front lines after I've done my sightseeing and exploring. It's been like a a month since I've seen them I believe? The all probably gotten stronger than me," Naruto said as he equipped his usual fighting gear. He now had on black boots with black pants. He had on an unzipped jacket which was orange and black. Underneath the jacket was a regular black shirt.
"Woah, I-I think it's cool here with the Assault Team. I could try for a hundred years and never make it."
Naruto turned towards Silica whos head was held down."On second thought, How about you join me and the team? We're not a guild or anything but everyone's cool with each other. Plus, we have some pretty strong players! So...whaddya say?" Naruto gave Silica the most wholeheartedly smile he could, with his hand held out. But instead of shaking his hand, Silica went in for a whole hug.
"Really? You sure I won't be a burden?" She asked, with her eyes gleaming at his.
"Y-yeah of course I'm sure. Like I said, we have strong players. Plus I'd be happy to help you out anytime with your skills."
"You're the best!" Both of them smiled at each other.
Naruto would like to add you as a friend
Accept/Decline
Silica happily accepted it before turning to naruto. "Alright then. Let's go meet your future friends!
A/N
Ahh finally gotten this chapter out! It's been a while, i know. But out of nowhere I've been getting a TON of pms of people tell me to work on this story again. So yeah here i am again.
It was kind of a chill chapter this time. Less fighting more character development. Tell me what ya think! Oh, and for the people that are suggesting me stories to make, i'm flattered, but i can't right now, i really want to work on this one for the meantime.
Tell me what you think of this chapter! More to come.
