DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO
CHAPTER 12: Skills to pay the Bills
The first week of the death game was hell.
Miharu wasn't sure how the other players were doing, considering the two of them had plowed through quests and mobs all the way to the last village on the floor. Hardly any players were around there, only beta testers like her and those who wanted to survive. Most were still recovering in the [Starting City]. But that didn't stop the cousins from going beyond what's expected.
This was a death game. Miharu had already played the game to floor eight (or nine, it's still unknown), so a lot of the facts still rolled around her head.
Hikari picked up things quickly, getting both of them to level five. They'd already found the first floor dungeon, but weren't attempting to enter anytime soon. Hikari was a bit put off, wanting to charge in like always, until Miharu reminded her that she'd gone in with a group. Taking it on solo would be dangerous. They'd just have to wait for a good group to come along and just sharpen their skills in the meantime.
"Sora-chaaaaaan," Hikari whimpered, leaning against the doorway to the store. Her cousin ignored, staring at the assortment of recipes and spiced on the counter, "Why do you want to pick up cooking again?"
"Because," She proceeded to trade money for the items, turning to her cousin with a satisfied smile, "The food tastes great. It also gives stat buffs."
Hikari groaned, "You and your buffs."
"Why don't you pick up something? It's gonna be awhile before anyone gets to us."
"Oh c'mon," Hikari sunk to the floor, "It took beta testers a week and we're the only ones in this town."
Miharu huffed, "Ari, face it. When it comes to situations like these, we've played way too many scary and shooting games to be affected. Everyone else is still in shock. It'll be awhile before we start seeing other players around here."
"I know, I know…" The brunette crossed her arms as they exited the shop, "I wonder where everyone is…"
"You mean Argo-san?" The blonde paused thoughtfully, "I hope she's okay. I haven't seen her since the death game started."
"Yeah, what about this Kirito person? Is he around?"
"I haven't checked," Miharu admitted, opening her friend list. Her eyes widened dramatically though, piquing her cousins interest.
"What? Does it show where he is?"
"Y-Yeah…he's in the same town we are."
"Really?" Hikari blinked, gazing around the empty street, "He must be a ninja."
"Let's not bother him." Miharu shook her head, canceling her menu. She remembered how anti-social he was and with things as they were, sometimes people just needed to be left alone.
Hikari shrugged, not really bothered as she retrieved a stale bread from her inventory to munch on. Miharu grimaced, "That's also another reason I want to cook. You sound like you're eating cement."
"Hey, it does its job."
"DEMON!" A merchant that had wandered to close squealed, scurrying back down the street. Miharu watched them got dryly, turning an accusing glare to her all too smug cousin. Hikari raised an eyebrow, crumbs falling from her mouth, "Wut?"
"You're enjoying this way too much. We're in a death game."
"So?" She brushed off her armor, "As long as you run when you go red, you'll be fine."
Miharu rolled her eyes, glancing down at her own armor. For the most part, they had the same color gear, but some equipment was a different color, contributing to mob drops. They hadn't encountered a field boss yet, much to Hikari's disappointment. The brunette's armor was forest green leather, making her resemble an elf in some ways. Miharu's was also leather, being a similar green but with grey mixed in.
"It's still so early." Hikari moaned, glaring up at the sun, "Why can't time go faster?"
"Don't say that. We have to use every bit of time to level up, increase our skills, and get better gear. Besides, I still need to find a fishing pole…"
"That's so boring," Hikari whined, "What about me?"
Miharu shrugged, "Well, what do you want to do? There's blacksmithing, tailoring, musical instrument, sewing, medicine-"
"Hold out!" Hiakri crossed her arms in an X, "Let's do this one at a time."
Miharu exhaled, lips twitched amusedly, "Alright. How does sewing-"
"Sora."
"Alright, alright," Miharu waved dismissively, ignoring Hikari's glare, "Well, there's weapon forging, appraisal, familiars-"
"Oh wait, we can have pets?" Hikari looked astonished, "Like…pets?!"
"No way, Ari." Miharu shook her head, "No chances are you going to bring a long some demented creature. No. Way.
Hikari grumbled, stomping her foot childishly, "Sora-chaaaaaaaaan!"
"No."
"Fine. What else is there?"
"Well," Miharu opened her menu, scrolling to the skills page, "There are passive skills like tracking, acrobatics, hiding, sprint, night vision-"
"No. Way. Night Vision!?"
Miharu sighed, "Ari, its daytime."
"…damn it."
"Then there's combat skills," The blonde continued, "We're wearing leather equipment at the moment, since we've never really been tanks…and armor doesn't sound that good when we're not gonna be the ones getting hit."
Hikari peeked over her cousin's shoulder, staring intently at her screen, "Battle Healing, Emergency Recovery, and Meditation…a lot of healing abilities for a game that doesn't have magic."
Miharu hummed in agreement, "We'll just bring a crap ton of potions. Makes it easier and frees up more space for skills."
"Well," Hikari huffed, "While you go and cook, I'm gonna be doing cool stuff like acrobatics and sprint."
"We're not gonna split up." Miharu shook her head, "It's too dangerous. We'll just have to split up time doing what we need."
Hikari groaned but none the less complied, helping her cousin carry around items for her skill. Miharu had to explain to her you could only have twelve skills at a time out of the thousand possible. It was when Hikari was browsing through them on her own menu that something caught Miharu's eye.
"Hikari, what's that extra box?"
"Hmm?" The brunette turned towards it, furrowing her eyebrows. It was to the side of her skill screen, highlighted in gold, "I don't know. Do you have it?"
"No. What is it?"
Hikari shrugged, pressing a finger to it. A small data bubble popped open, with the words 'Darkness Blade' highlighted in bold. Beneath it, a vague description went on to explain its properties. Hikari turned to her cousin in confusion.
"Does this mean anything to you?"
"Huh. It does look strange. Maybe you're bugged?"
Hikari moaned in despair, "I hope I don't start glitching. I don't wanna lose my torso."
"It says, 'the blade draws upon dark energies to give strength to the wielder, but in turn, gradually takes their life away'." Miharu read, before biting her lip, "That certainly sounds alarming."
"Um. What is it?"
"My best bet is- you've got yourself a unique skill."
Hikari blinked, glancing at the skill, randomly her feet, then at Miharu, "That's cool and all but…what was that about taking my life?"
Miharu shrugged, "Best bet now is to just ignore it until we get better experience."
"Darn. I knew I had a legacy."
"Shut up, idiot, and help me make a fire."
"Sora-chaaaaaan, you're so mean!"
Miharu rolled her eyes, dragging her complaining cousin to the outskirts of town where they still remained in the safety of it, but had free roam. As she started to set up her utensils, she noticed Hikari making herself comfortable on the grass.
"What are you doing?"
"Well," Hikari grumbled, sitting up straight, "you said to practice my own skills, so I' am."
Miharu watched as she closed her eyes. There was a long pause before Hikari whimpered, "I hate Meditation. Make it go faster."
Miharu rolled her eyes, "You're not one for patience. Just work on Hiding or Listening."
"I don't wanna listen to you, so I guess I better hide." Hikari cackled, smiling mischievously at her irked companion. The brunette stood as Miharu created a fire, stretching her arms in the air.
"Hey, when are we gonna buy our own house or actually sleep in an inn? Not that I don't like the stars, but when more players come along, I'm not gonna feel so safe."
Miharu hummed, "I guess we could rent out a room in the inn today. Just before the mob comes."
Hikari abruptly threw herself onto the ground, rolling down the hill with gleeful giggles. Miharu watched her go dully, listening to her laughter echo off the hillside, "That's not hiding if I can hear you!"
"I still got a skill point!"
Miharu smirked, turning back to her own skill. She planned on picking up fishing and cooking again, but she wanted to add blacksmithing to that list. Of course the whole blacksmithing package included a bunch of skills she'd have to take, but she settled for the necessities. For one, they weren't gonna need heavy armor anytime soon, so that was crossed off the list. Getting materials wasn't a problem either. Hikari loved killing mobs. All she had to do was follow her trail of wreckage and she was bound to get everything she'd need.
Thinking about it, all they needed from smithing was weapons. She'd have to pick up sewing and tailoring to make leather armor for them. But cooking was her priority now.
Hikari's? She watched her cousin roll up and down the hill blankly. So far, Hiding and just plain being obnoxious. However…
"Hey, Ari!"
"Yeah?" Hikari's head popped up from down the hill like a jack in the box. Miharu found herself smirking.
"How does Tracking sound to you?"
"What's it do?" the brunette asked, approaching the small fire she'd made. Miharu stoked it as she started to explain.
"Well, you can hunt certain mobs, NPCS, and players. You'll even be able to find other monsters that are Hiding, or players…" She trailed off, frowning as she started to notice how this skill seemed more for PK. Just the thought of it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Hikari hummed, "Hiding…Tracking…actually, I think I'm gonna stick with Hiding, Sprint, and Acrobatics."
"Okay, so, rolling around in the grass apparently levels hiding. You can just jog around if you wanna level sprint. What about acrobatics?"
Hikari shrugged, "I think I'll just practice karate."
"Okay then. We set?"
"Yup! Oh boy, now I'm getting pumped! Those other beta testers better come quickly, I can't wait to take out the boss!"
"Ari, you do realize that majority of the groups are still in Harunka, right?"
Hikari gapped at her cousin before collapsing into a cloud of depression, "If they don't get here by the end of the week, we're going to kick their sorry asses up here, got it?"
Miharu rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face, "Whatever you say, Ari."
It was around that time, a message appeared in front of Miharu. The blonde blinked, startled, while Hikari jolted at the bell like chime it gave, "What the hell?!"
"It's from Agro-san," Miharu opened it, frowning; "She wants to meet up. She says…"
Hikari blinked when she noticed her cousin going pale, "What? What is it?"
Miharu swallowed, barely managed to utter her next words, "…she says that everyone's scapegoating the beta testers…"
Hikari was perplexed, "That's stupid. Isn't there a guide book, so technically, everyone is a beta tester?"
Miharu sighed, shakily, "This is just great. How are we gonna complete the game when everyone's at each other throats?"
"Well, at least we're not killing each other."
There was a pause in which both cousins turned pale, images of PKers finding them running through their heads. In their moment, they didn't notice the shadowed figure approaching. Not until they were practically right beside them.
"Hey."
They screamed.
